Be Safe
by BitexMexEdward
Summary: Mike led me into the forest. I thought we were just stepping outside for a minute? I began to worry. Maybe I should have listened to Edward's warning. 'Kiss me,' Mike whispered.
1. Yeah You're Grounded Bella

**A/N: This is my first fanfic. I hope you like it. Read and Review!!**

_**Disclaimer**:_

Reader: Wow! Do you own Twilight?

Me: _sighs_ No. Stephenie Meyer does.

Reader: Is that you?

Me: No, stupid.

**Chapter One.**

**Yeah. You're Grounded Bella**

_Edward squeezed me gently. "I'm here."_

_I drew in a deep breath._

_That was true. Edward was here, with his arms around me._

_I could face anything as long as that was true._

_I squared my shoulders and walked forward to meet my fate, with my destiny solidly at my side._

"ISABELLA MARIE SWAN. Would you mind telling me what that _thing_ is doing in my drive way?!" Charlie screamed at me as soon as Edward and I walked through the doorway. When he saw that I had Edward with me, it seemed to make him even more mad.

"Dad-," I started, but he cut me off.

"Edward, I want you to leave. You should not be here right now," Charlie said harshly. He did not seem to look directly at him.

"Sir, if you would let me explain-," Edward tried, but Charlie interrupted yet again.

"Please. It will be better if you go. _Now._"

Edward started to let go of me. I turned around to look into his beautiful topaz eyes, pleading. He squeezed my hand to tell me that he would be waiting for me in my room. I sighed and turned to face the demon that my little experiment had unleashed.

"Well, Isabella. Care to explain? You know how I feel about these death traps_." _

I was thinking about how he had referred to the motorcycle. I would admit that I had taken some bumps and bruises riding it, but I did not think of it as a death trap.

I had nothing to say. What _could _I say? The truth?

_Umm yeah. I decided to risk my life by riding a motorcycle because I knew that I would hear my one and only love's voice in my head. I know it sounds crazy… but it worked._

Ha. No Way.

"Isabella? Are you even listening to me?" Charlie did not only sound mad now. He sounded upset.

"I am. I- I just wanted to try it out. I found it for free and I had Jacob fix it up. I was… I was just trying to find a way to spend time with Jacob without it being awkward," I responded, thinking quickly. My explanation definitely sounded fishy. Not only was I a horrible liar, but that was also an extremely lame excuse. Charlie didn't buy it for a second.

"I do not want to hear it young lady. I can not believe you would even think about riding that_ thing_."

He droned on and on. It was at least twenty minutes before he got to the fact that I had left with out telling him. The basic outcome of the lecture was that I was grounded. I was banned from doing pretty much anything except going to school and going to work. I was to come straight home afterwards. Even after he explained all this in detail, he still was not finished.

"…And I especially do not want you seeing _that boy_. You are forbidden from seeing him until I say otherwise."

WHAT? I could not believe what I was hearing. No Edward? Well, it would not really matter. I would continue to see him, but still. To think that Charlie would suggest something like that made my insides churn. He must be really angry.

I did owe him an apology though. I ran away without telling him (unless you counted a very brief note) and I had done one of the things he had made clear he would not put up with.

"Dad? I'm so sorry. Not just for the motorcycles, but for everything. I know it can't change what I did… but…"

Charlie's face softened, but not much.

"I love you Bells. I just don't want to see you hurt, or worse, killed. I can't even think about it."

My dad gave me a swift hug and then turned me around to face the steps. I trudged up the stairs. I managed to trip on the last step, but firm hands caught me. I looked up into my angel's face. His face was hard, but pleased at the same time. Edward took my hand and led me to my room.

"So, what are you going to do? Charlie says you are not to see me. Now, I do not agree with him at all, but you should not disobey your father," he said quietly, in case Charlie was listening.

I was not as surprised as I normally would be. Edward always had a way of analyzing situations that, sometimes, I just didn't understand.

"Well of course, I'm not going to stop seeing you," I replied.

"No, I guess you're not. What about Charlie though?" he asked.

"I will obey him in every other way. I promise." Edward's face softened. I guess he felt we had made a way to make everyone happy. Besides, Charlie would not find out.

I watched as the exquisite being in my room sat down gracefully on my bed. How did he do it? He captivated me with every movement. I sighed.

"What?" Edward asked me concerned.

"Nothing. You're just too perfect." I smiled and went to sit next to him, but he pushed me away gently. I looked at him, hurt.

"Go get ready for bed," he said sternly. I pouted. "Now. Don't make me call you young lady!" He chuckled, and I marched to the bathroom like a child.

I noticed that my teeth were slowly becoming a whiter shade then they were when I first moved to Forks. My teeth were never yellow, but they weren't perfect. Seeing Edwards's pearly white teeth was always intimidating. I hadn't realized I had been brushing extra long since seeing his smile. It was working for my benefit.

When stormed back into my room, ready to jump on my love, I didn't see him in my room. I automatically became depressed and confused.

Then my sides exploded with feeling. I yelled out and began to giggle as quietly as I could. Edward was tickling me to death!

"Stop!" I whispered between giggles. You'll get me in trouble."

"You're right." He picked me up and laid me gently on my bed. "It's time for you to rest."

I looked at the clock. It was ten o'clock. I hadn't realized how tired I was. It had been a long day. My eyes suddenly drooped and I was drifting just as Edward crawled into bed beside me.

**Another A/N: If you didn't already know, the italicized paragraph at the beginning was the last paragraph of New Moon. DUH. Anyway… Hope you liked it. Review if you want more.**


	2. A Warning

**Disclaimer:**

Me: Ohh!!! I wish I could own Twilight.

Reality: _slaps_ Well, you don't. So get on with the story.

**Chapter Two**

**A Warning**

My punishment was not unbearable. It was not as if I spent time with my other friends and I rarely went places unless I went with Edward. I would go to school and see Edward, drive home in my faithful red truck, do my homework, and get dinner started. That took up most of my day. Then when the nighttime rolled around and Charlie went to sleep, my Greek God would appear on my bed, waiting for me.

I still worked at the Newton's store, so five days a week I could find a change of scenery there. When Mike was there, I even had someone to talk to. His talk, though, was mostly centered about how Edward and I were doing and if I would ever go out with him. Psht.

I would admit, some weekends could be brutal. On the days I did not have work, Charlie would cut his fishing trips a little short to check on me, so Edward could not be there all the time. Apparently he could not be with me all the time also because he had things to do. Well, that's what he had said. What things did a vampire do? They had eternity to do them! I would think that a certain vampire would hold his things that he had to do until a time when a certain human girl did not need him to entertain her.

I did not complain, though. I knew I had hurt Charlie pretty bad when I disobeyed him. I wouldn't, I couldn't think about doing it again. So, I grit my teeth and dealt with it.

With all of my free time, I was able to get ahead in my schoolwork. My grades were skyrocketing up. Even in math, although I seriously hated that class.

At the beginning, I thought Charlie would give in and let me off early. But strangely, he was holding his ground. Obviously, he was taking this very seriously.

I woke up to a bright sunny room a few weeks later. Great. Sun. That meant the love of my life would not be in school today. This was actually the first time it was sunny since I got punished. Maybe that meant something good was going to happen! I did not get my hopes up though. What good could come of a day with out Edward?

After my shower, I got dressed, gloomily, in a white tee-shirt that had a low V-neck cut (I wore a red camisole underneath it) and blue jeans. I headed back into the bathroom to fix my hair. When I was finished, I felt the presence of someone watching me. I whirled around and spotted Edward staring at me from the doorway of my bedroom.

"Edward! You scared me!" I exclaimed. He chuckled and swooped me up into his arms and planted a tender kiss on my lips. "What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Well, I could not wait until after school to see you! Plus you never know what will happen with you. I had to make sure you made it safely to school," he laughed again. I pouted my lip. Of course, to me, it seemed as if he was pointing out his perfectness to me and implying that I was not as great as him. I knew that was not his intention, but his words were just a reminder of how imperfect I was.

"I have to eat breakfast and then we can go." I thought he would put me down so that I could walk down the steps, but he sped down the steps at vampire speed with me in his arms.

I was preparing my traditional cereal for breakfast, when Edward sat down at the table. He looked worried.

As I sat down to eat, I asked him what was wrong.

"Nothing, nothing. Its just…"

"Yes?" Now I was nervous about what he was going to say.

"Alice had a premonition. She saw Mike and you talking and flirting. Actually, he was flirting and you were kinda just… I guess going along with it. You guys walked outside for a little bit and headed towards the forest for a walk. That's all she saw, but it got me worried." His eyes were positioned on the floor, but he paused in between every sentence to see my reaction. To his surprise, I laughed.

"Edward! I would never cheat on you if that is what your anxious about. You should know that Mike is more of a pain than anything to me."

"I know. I'm just concerned. Alice is almost never wrong."

"Almost," I said grinning. Edward smiled, but his eyes still contained his earlier worriment.

We elapsed into silence as I finished my breakfast. Edward has a distant look on his face, and I could tell he was still thinking about Alice's vision. I was about to say something to him, but he broke the silence first.

"Bella, please try and stay away from him. You never know what could happen. Promise me you will try. Promise me." As he said this, his golden eyes stared at me intensely.

"I promise Edward."

"Good. I love you." He picked me up and kissed me passionately, but not deeply (for my safety of course). Then, after he set me down, he started out towards his car. "I'll drive you today."

I did not bother to complain. As I ducked into the silver Volvo, I thought about how silly Edward's warning was. I doubted I would need to heed it. Mike was just a teenaged boy. He could do nothing to me besides flirt and flirt and flirt.

When we got to the school, he stayed in the car while I got out. He rolled down the window as I was walking away.

"Bella," he said forcefully, "Be safe."

**A/N: Well? What did you think? Review pretty please if you want to find out what happens with Mike. YAY!!!**


	3. Kiss Me

**Disclaimer:**

Reader: This is pretty good. Did you come up with it all by yourself?

Me: Sadly no. Stephenie Meyer did.

Reader: Wait, she wrote this?

Me: Oh my God. I don't want to talk to you anymore. You're pretty unintelligent.

Reader: _stares._

Me: Just Read.

**Chapter Three**

**Kiss Me**

When I sat down in English, Mike came and sat next to me, as usual. He was behaving normally, asking me where Edward was, and how it was going with us. I made it through English without him doing anything unusual.

The day passed with an unusual boringness about it. When the bell rang, I was so ready for lunch. Jessica walked with me to the cafeteria, babbling the whole way there. She still liked Mike, but did not know if they were still an item.

I bought my food and took my regular seat next to Angela. Mike's traditional seat was next to Jess, but today he decided to sit with me. I looked over at him, confused. Something seemed different about him, now, but I could not figure out what.

"Gosh, today is probably the dullest sunny day ever," Mike complained. Everyone agreed, including me. Jess began to question Mike about some homework assignment, but he was not paying attention. "You look extra pretty today, Bella."

I was not surprised by his remark, because it was a normal Mike comment.

"Oh. Thanks, I guess," I responded. Mike chuckled and moved on to talk about the recent gossip.

I tried to eat my lunch, but for some reason, my stomach did not want it. Butterflies were swarming in my stomach, though I could not figure out why. Maybe I was nervous about Alice's vision and Edwards warnings. I tried to push those thoughts out of my head. I had nothing to worry about.

"Oh, Bella, I have this really great CD I want you to listen to. Come with me to listen to it after lunch, okay?" Mike had the same music interest as me. This was beginning to sound like Alice's vision. But, in her vision, nothing bad happened, so it should be fine.

As everyone was hurrying towards their next class, Mike and I headed towards the parking lot. In the back of my mind, I had decided that if he started towards the forest, I would turn back.

I was slightly surprised when he made his way to his old, beat up car. I let the air out of my lungs. I had been unintentionally holding by breath.

"Here listen. Its pretty awesome." He popped in the CD and it began to play. Whoa. That was some radical music!

"Wow, this is actually really great. Who is the artist?" A look of confusion rose to his face. It was like I had asked a stupid question.

"Oh, I don't know. It is a mixed CD from my cousin." For some reason I did not believe him, but why would he lie about that?

We started up a conversation and soon we were cracking up about something. I could not remember what we were laughing about, but it had to be funny.

"Lets go for a walk, Bella," Mike said after we calmed down. Something in the back of my head told me it was a bad idea, but we were having such a good time.

"Well, okay. Just for a little bit." We got out of his car and started towards the forest. It had been about 40 minutes since we got in his car, and I was having such a great time that I forgot all about Edward's warnings. I thought that I was going for a innocent walk with a friend.

When we got into the forest, Mike stopped talking. He was looking at his hands. We kept walking, until we got to a slight clearing. Mike sat down on a fallen tree. Then I realized what was different about him. His eyes.

They were the same color, but they were slightly clouded over and deep inside I saw that they held a look of regret.

"Are you okay, Mike?"

"Of course! I'm glad to be talking to you. It's been a while since we actually talked for real." Despite what I saw in his eyes, his voice sounded genuinely cheery.

I leaned against the tree standing near by, searching my mind for something to talk about. Then, it all came crashing down on me.

Alice had a vision about this, and Edward had warned me against being around Mike. How had I forgotten? I had thought that we were going for an innocent walk. Maybe that's all it was.

I lost my train of thought when I heard Mike get up. He walked towards me, looking serious. What in the world was he doing? He took my hands and pined them over my head. Then he pushed his body up against mine and smelled my hair.

I did not have time to protest, because the next words out of his words were so pleading and so longing, I was startled yet again.

"Kiss me," he whispered longingly in my ear.

**A/N: Oh No. I'm scared. STOP THAT MIKE!**

**Sorry, but I'm not posting anymore until I get .. umm 30 reviews. If you like the story, don't hesitate to review. I'm all for criticing too!**

**THANKS FOR READING!  
**

**-Taylorr **


	4. I promise You

**A/N: GUYS! THATS 33 Reviews for this one chapter! OH MY LORDY. THANKS SOO MUCH.**

**First, I want to clear a few things up. For those who are saying: "PSHT Bella would never walk with Mike" and yada yada yada, I want you to know that I am aware of this. You find out why later.**

**Second, Mike is not going to rape Bella. Sorry.**

**_The Dreamers' Twilight:_ ...though I would adore slightly longer chapters!**

**This is a pretty long chapter! heehee.**

**Lastly, Thanks for all the reviews. I ADORE them.**

**Disclaimer:**

Me: Must I explain it to you, again?!

Reader: Yes. I can't comprehend it.

Me: Oh, sure. You know the word 'comprehend' but you can't grasp the fact that Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight and not me.

Reader: _stares_

**Chapter Four**

**I promise You.**

Mike's words baffled me so intensely that I almost kissed him. His words were not forcing; they were almost pleading. I shook my head and a tear slipped from my eye. Not because I was scared, but because of the way Mike's eyes looked. It was as if he had no control over what he was saying, and he felt bad about it.

"Mike…" My voice quivered. He did not respond. Looking down, he kept his hold on my hands. It was not a tight hold, but enough to keep me there.

I saw his face scrunch up as if he were trying to figure something out or like he was fighting some mental force. Either way, he was concentrating very hard.

Then he looked up at me. His eyes were back to normal.

"Go. Please, just go," Mike said in a forced voice. He released his grip, but only slightly, and I was able to slip out.

I ran through the forest, blinded by my tears. I tripped at least four times before I ran into what I thought was a rock. The rock put it's arms around me.

"Where is he? WHERE IS THAT BASTARD?" Edward screamed.

"Please! Lets just go. Please…" I did not look up. I just wanted to leave.

Edward picked me up in his sturdy arms and began to run. He was running away from the school, though. I did not care. I did not want to think about anything. I soon fell asleep from the gentle rock of Edward's arms.

When I woke up, I was in the Cullen house, on the couch in Edward's room. I looked around, but I was alone. I had a minute to think.

Something was definitely wrong with Mike. It seemed like someone or something was controlling him, and he knew it. He was struggling just to tell me to leave. What kind of being could do that?

Obviously, whatever it was, was not human. My mind was assuming the being was a vampire. But, why would a vampire want Mike to kiss me?

There were only two vampire suspects that I could think of. The Voltouri and Victoria. I began to tremble with fear. What was going to happen?

I heard a knock on the door.

"Come in," I whispered, but I knew whoever it was could hear me. Vampire's enhanced hearing.

Alice strolled in the room looking stressed and worried. She sat down next to me, but she did not say anything for several minutes. When she finally moved, she threw me into a suffocating hug.

"Are you okay, Bella? We should have never let you go to school today. Anything could have happened! Oh Bella…" I hugged her back.

"Alice, please don't feel bad. It was not you guy's fault. It was mine. I was stupid enough to go with him, even after Edward warned me. But, why are you so upset? He did not try to hurt me…" I studied her face. There was something she was not telling me.

"I think you should come downstairs with the rest of the family. Esme made you some cookies. Oatmeal raisen. Hope that's okay."

"Of course its okay," I responded. I could tell something was wrong. They knew something, and they were going to tell me.

Alice took my hand and led me downstairs. I wondered why Edward was not the one who was doing this. Alice seemed to know what I was thinking.

"He was too mad. Not so much at you, but at himself. I just thought it would be better if I got you. Plus, you smelled like Mike when you first got back. I wanted to make sure the scent was off of you. It is."

When we reached the living room, every Cullen was present. Edward was sitting on a couch with his arms crossed, scowling. Esme was sitting in Carlisle's arms, on the same couch. Emmet and Jasper were sitting on another couch, a masculine amount of room between them. All of them had looks of concern on their faces. Rosalie was standing in the far doorway into the room. She, like Edward, was scowling, but for an entirely different reason, I was sure.

Alice went to sit with Jasper, leaving me alone in the center of the room.

"Take a seat," Carlisle said, patting the space between him and Edward. "We have news for you."

I sat down and looked at Edward. His scowl faded and was replaced with concern. Taking my face in his hands, he kissed my forehead.

"Do not be scared. Whatever happens," he said quietly to me. Even though he said it quietly, I knew everyone had heard.

"Why don't you start, Bella. Tell us what happened today," Carlisle said calmly.

I told them all I could. I squeezed in every detail I remembered. When I explained about Mike's eyes, they all exchanged glances. I ignored that and kept going. When I began talking about Mike trying to kiss me, Edward tensed up. I could tell he was strugggling to contain his anger. His fist balled up on his thigh, and he looked away from me. I stopped when my story came to waking up here, at the Cullen house.

I waited for someone to say something, but no one did.

"Well..." I started. "Are you going to tell me the news or not?"

"Yes, yes. I believe Edward should tell you, though,"Carlisle replied.

Edward looked at me uneasily and began.

"A few hours after you went to school, I heard someone's thoughts. It was a new voice, but it sounded familar. I listened closly to their thoughts. It was Victoria." Edward paused to see my reaction.

When I heard him say this, my heart skipped a beat. I was sure they all heard it, but I still kept an outward appearance of calm.

"Go on," I urged.

"She was talking to someone. Flirting was more like it. She was luring the poor boy in."

I shuddered, but kept my face composed. I had a feeling that I knew who that poor boy was.

"Was the boy Mike?" I asked somberly. Edward nodded.

"How do you mean 'she was luring him in'?"

Carlisle answered me this time. "She was putting him under a sort of spell, you could say. Captivating him with her eyes."

"You call it 'dazzeling'," Edward said to me. He smiled slightly, but his eyes did not reflect it.

I automaticlly reliazed what she had done. Edward had done this to me unintenionally many times before. I could not imagine what the effect would be full force.

"Okay, Dazzeling. Well, Victoria dazzeled him and she was able to get inside his mind, with her own. She told him that if he helped her, he would get to kiss you, touch you, and be with you. Of course, he agreed, eagerly. With his approval, she could now take total control of his mind. Her plan was to let him do what he wanted to you, and then she would kill you while he had you distracted," Carlisle finished.

I was not quite sure what I was expected to say. I did not know what to think.

"That's why his eyes where clouded over," I stated. Five vampires nodded. Rosalie did not move.

"Mike did not know she had plans to kill you. When he found out, he wanted her to leave. She wouldn't, because he had already agreed to let her take his mind. When somoene does this, one has no control. Most humans do not even relize someone is in their head with them. Mike knew, because Victoria told him, but I believe he would have known even if she didn't. It took a great deal of strength for Mike to be able to do that; to warn you," Carlisle said quietly to me. Edward seemed angered by this.

"What will happen to him? Won't Victoria be angry?"

"Oh, Victoria is already furious. We can only hope for Mike's saftey." Rosalie's words startled me. I did not expect her to speak at all during the session. I looked at her again. She was still scowling, but not directly at me.

Edward glared at her and her face was suddenly full of regret.

"I'm sorry Bella. I should not have spoke to you so harshly. Its not your fault." She hung her head in guilt. I knew she still felt badly about faslely informing Edward of my death.

"Well, what are we going to do? Are we going to help Mike?"

"You are going to do nothing. Right now, we need to worry about keeping you safe. Edward will be with you at all times. It should be okay for you to sleep at home tonight, as long as he is there. Victoria's plans are foiled for the time being, but it won't be long until she finds a new way to get to you. Emmet, Jasper, and I are going to look into where she is hiding, after you leave."

"I am going to take you home now," Edward said to me. That was when I thought of Charlie.

"Oh no! What am I going to tell Charlie? I'm still grounded you know."

"Don't worry, Bella. He went down to Billy's house for dinner. He won't be back until later." Alice said fromt he other side of the room, smiling. Thank goodness.

Edward grabbed my hand and gently pulled me towards the door.

"Wait," I said suddenly. "I want some cookies."

Edward shook his head in disapprovale, but let me go. I stuffed as many as I could into a ziplock baggie, smiling sheepishly at the family of vampires. They just laughed. Then, I rejoined Edward.

The car ride to my house was a silent one.

When we reached the house, Charlie was not home. We walked up to my room and Edward told me to get ready for bed. I kissed him lightly on the cheek before proceeding.

After I was finished, I walked back into my room to find my bed covers pulled down and Edward swaying in the rocking chair.

"What are you going to do about your car?" I asked. I did not want Charlie to become susupcious.

Edward motioned for me to look out the window. The car was gone. I looked at him with questioning eyes.

"Emmet and Rosalie followed and drove it back."

Inside, I was worried about Mike. He may be a pest, but I did not want him harmed.

I thought about this as I started into bed. As I was laying down, I felt Edward's arms close around my waist. He pulled me close to his cool, marble skin. I did not even see him get out of the rocking chair.

"I love you so much, Bella," Edward whispered in my ear. "I will always keep you safe. I messed up today, but it will never happen again. I promise you."

"I love you more than you can even imagine. Do not blame yourself for what happened today. It was my fault."

Edward clasped his hand over my mouth.

"I don't want to hear that. 'I love you' was perfect. Now go to sleep."

My eyes began to close against my will. As I was drifting off to sleep, I wondered what tomarrow had in store for me.

**A/N Numero Dos: Reviews are what inspire me to continue writing. With out them, I am inspireless. Yes. I did make that word up just now. GOT BEEF? Well, put it in a review! **

**Also, I choose Esme to make Oatmeal Rasin cookies because they are different from chocolate chip or sugar. Those are soo lame.**


	5. Naked Men

**A/N: Thanks again for reading. Before, I had all my chapters written ahead of time. This one took longer because I just wrote it. Don't be mad if I take a little longer to update from now on. I STILL LOVE YOU ALL.**

**The bulk of this chapter is for a reviewer. She gave me the idea. It's to lighten the mood. THANKS REVIEWER.**

**I am going to share a little story with you. I have a wedding to go to today (not mine), so my mom asked me if I wanted to go tanning. I was like "Hell Yes." (except I didn't really say that because I would have been slapped). So we went and I got in the stand up booth thing (after Final Destination… no way in hell was I getting in the lay down one). OMG it is so freaking hot in there. I thought I was going to die. But then it turned off and I got out. I looked in the mirror and I had absolutely no tan. WTF?! **

**There is a happy ending to that story though. When I woke up today, I was tan. My mom, unfortunately, looks like a lobster.**

_**Disclaimer:**_

Me_: walks down street._ LOOK! There's Twilight on sale._ Attempts to enter store, but runs into the glass door._

Reality: That is what you get. Now open your eyes and see that Stepheine Meyer owns that book.

Me: …I wasn't even thinking about me owning it… I just wanted to see. _Breaks down crying because life is so mean._

**Chapter Five**

**Naked Men**

_I was running. Everything around me was dark. Someone was telling me to keep going no matter what. I could not resist. I turned around. Mike was being pulled into a dark hole screaming at me to keep moving. I then felt someone pulling on my hand. I tripped…_

I felt someone's cool lips press to my forehead. Instantly, I was extracted from my dream. I could not even remember it was about.

"Good morning," Edward's voice sang. I smiled happily. I loved waking up next to him.

"'Mornin." I said back. I opened my eyes and looked at him. His face still had anger lines, but he was smiling and he meant it.

I tried to throw my arms around him, but, because I was tired, he got his arms around me first. His face nuzzled my neck as he breathed in my scent. I blushed.

I drew my hands to his face and pulled his lips to mine. Edward let me enjoy myself for a minute, but then he drew away. I sighed.

Coincidentally, I looked at the clock. It was 7:55.

"Oh! Edward! I have school and I'm late! Charlie… oh no." I was panicking.

"Do you really think that you are going to school today?" Edward questioned me testily.

"Oh. But Charlie!!!!!" I protested.

"He was called out early to work. Emmett and Jasper had some fun with that one," he chuckled. Oh my. Knowing Emmett and Jasper, they probably did something crazy.

"What did they do?" I asked excitedly.

"Well, they decided it would be fun to run around the block." I was disappointed. Surely they could have thought of something more creative than that. I did not understand why police would have to be involved in that. I looked at Edward, puzzled. "Naked."

"Oh my!" I giggled. I felt the blood rushing to my face. Just thinking about the two men running in the nude made me embarrassed.

"Yeah. They were shouting something along the lines of 'Join us! Expose the real you!' and 'Look at my nakedness. Be proud of my masculinity.' They just needed to find something to get Charlie away. It worked." He smiled. I began cracking up. What a crazy thing to do.

"When did they decide to do this?" I asked, when I could breathe again.

"About the time when Charlie would usually wake up. So, around 5:30."

"Are they going to get in trouble?" I did not want the two vampires going to jail just to get me out of going to school. Not that jail bars could restrain them, but it would probably cause a lot more trouble than it is worth.

"Nope. Jasper made them think it was funny." I smiled as I rested my head on Edward's chest. What I life I was leading.

After enjoying my angel's company for several minutes, I announced that I needed to be human for a while.

I left Edward in my room and walked to the bathroom. My shower felt great. After I was all cleaned up and ready for the day, I strolled back into my room with a towel on. I had forgotten about Edward.

When I realized he was in my room, I jumped. My cheeks were heavily colored with blush. Edwards eyes were surprised at first, but then he surveyed my bare legs. His eyes twinkled with laughter and desire.

"Edward!" I screamed. I blushed more, grabbed my clothes and ran back to the bathroom.

My heart would not stop beating. I had never been more embarrassed in my life. I got dressed, looked in the mirror, and tried to calm myself once more.

I decided to play it off and act cool. When I went back in the room, Edward was smiling; a look of pure laughter on his face.

"I see you remembered clothes this time," he teased.

"Oh! Um… Yeah." I blushed.

"Do not be embarrassed. You are beautiful. I did not mind in the slightest."

That only made me more embarrassed, so I tried to exit the room dramatically. I got to the steps successfully, but tripped and almost fell all the way down. Edward caught me, of course.

After I ate breakfast, Edward told me that we needed to go to his house for a little while. More news. I was not sure what to expect.

Edward held the door open for me, just like the gentleman he was. He put on a relaxing CD, and turned up the heat.

We held a conversation about random topics. Surprisingly, Edward still had questions for me. He quizzed me about my childhood days today.

When we reached the Cullen house, Edward led me into the living room for more sure to be depressing news.

To my surprise, no one was in the living room. I guess they had not been waiting for me or expecting they weren't expecting me.

Edward and I headed up the steps. He knocked on Carlisle's door.

"Come in," we heard him say. As we were entering, I saw he was putting a book away. He had been reading. "Bella, we searched last night, but it seems Victoria has left the area."

I sighed in relief. I was glad she left. I would be able to go back to school and not worry.

"The bad news is… she took Mike with her," Carlisle added.

Oh my God. How did this happen? Mike was with Victoria. Why did she take him?

I did not respond. Edward squeezed my hand to comfort me.

"I do not think we have anything to worry about. She would not have taken him if she was going to kill him right away. Try to relax. We will figure everything out." Carlisle was trying to cheer me up, but I wondered how true his words were. I did not think he would lie to me.

"I'll try not to get too nervous. Thank you. For everything."

Edward then took me out of the room. When the door closed, he swiped me up into his arms and carried me to his room. He sat me on his couch and glided to his wall of music. The CD he chose looked like a burned one. When he popped it into the stereo, I was instantly calmed. It was my lullaby.

"I want you to be happy. I hate having you always worried and upset. Lets just talk. Maybe I will attempt to make you lunch!" I giggled at this. He had not eaten in probably one hundred years. Did he still know how to cook? I didn't think so.

"You? Cook? No way!" I teased.

"You doubt my ability?" He asked, teasing back.

"Well, I don't expect the big, scary vampire to be able to cook!" I began to giggle even more.

"WHAT?! I get you for that!!" He screamed, laughing. He jumped up at human speed and tried to grab me. For once, I was too fast.

As he was chasing me around the house, I could not help but have a little fun. I would hold off thinking about the appalling aspects of my life at the moment. Such as the fact that Mike was somewhere with a murderous vampire and I did not know if he would ever come back.

**A/N: Hey You! If you like, review. If you want more, review. If you want Naked Vampires running around your neighborhood, review. REVIEW! **

**And listen, you need to stop picturing Emmett and Jasper naked. **


	6. Romance

_**Disclaimer:**_

Reality: You don't own Twilight. Stephenie Meyer does. AHA!

Me: _screams at sky _SHUT UP! I KNOW I DON'T OWN TWILIGHT. LEAVE ME ALONEEEE!!

Mom: _comes out and sees her child yelling at no one imp reticular. Looks around. _Honey… Are you okay? Who are you yelling at?

Me: That voice that keeps taunting me.

Mom: _stares._ OH crap. My child is mental.

**Chapter Six**

**Romance**

After Edward had chased me for about twenty minutes at human speed, he chose to cheat. He uped his speed to vampire. I suddenly felt his hands grab and pull me gently to the ground. Then, he began to tickle me.

"Stop! Stop! Please! I can't breathe!" I yelled, laughing hysterically.

Edward seized his attack and laid down next to me. We were now in the living room.

I began to let my mind wander. Mike was with Victoria. I could not even begin to imagine what she was doing to him. Maybe she wasn't hurting him. Maybe she changed him into a vampire. I turned to see Edward studying my face.

"Are you okay?" he asked me, eyes concerned.

"Yes, I'm fine. I'm just worried. I don't know what I'll do if I find Mike is dead because of me."

"I do not believe he is dead, Bella. Do not worry. Everything will be fixed." I wanted to believe him, but life had never been kind to me. He saw my doubt. "I know it is hard for you."

I got up and walked over to the window, my eyes staring out, but not seeing anything.

"I can't figure out what she is planning," I murmured.

"Bella, we do not expect you to. Our whole family is working on it. Even Rosalie."

I closed my eyes. This family of vampires had risked everything for me before. Was I just a nuisance in their lives?

"Lets go for a walk. Maybe we will find something interesting," Edward said, trying to break me of my morose mood.

"Sure," I agreed.

Outside, the clouds were covering the entire sky. They were white, though, not the usual black, rain cloud color. I breathed in nature's scent. I was getting used to the smell of damp moss.

Back in Phoenix, nature's smell was completely different. It was drier and busier. I loved each smell for different reasons.

The Cullen's yard was humongous. I had never been into their backyard, but I never had reason to go out there.

We started towards the forest next to his house.

"Do you know how much wildlife lives out here?" he asked. I admitted that I had never cared enough to observe. "Nature is more exciting when you look closely. You just have to know where to look, and how to be quiet." He looked at me, accusingly.

"Well so-rry if I am a little louder than you vampires… and the average human," I whined. I was not truly hurt; I knew he was kidding.

"I'll teach you how to be quiet. The ground out here is covered in dried out leaves, twigs, and other such things. You need to step on them the right way, so they make the least amount of noise manageable."

For the next half hour, I tried to learn how to be quiet. At first, the lesson seemed pointless; I was still as loud as an elephant stampede. But, as I observed Edward and the ground, I slowly caught onto the skill. When I was able to walk as noiselessly as humanly possibly, Edward announced we were going to begin our adventure.

Within five minutes, Edward pointed to the ground next to us. I was startled at first. A brown and black snake was creeping along the ground. I was afraid it was going to attack, but it seemed to take no notice of us.

When I was sure the snake was not going to attack, I studied it. The way it moved was so smooth, I began to long to be able to move like it. It, like Edward and I, was noiseless.

Everywhere we looked, more of Mother Nature's blessings were to be found. Everything had a certain uniqueness to it and everything was beautiful.

We laughed and joked as we strolled though the forest. I began to feel happy again as Mike and Victoria escaped my mind once again.

When I looked up through a clearing in the wood's canopy, I noticed that sunset was not far off. We had stopped in a small, secluded area. I stared dreamily into my Greek god's golden eyes. He returned my stare, but then looked behind me, and smiled.

"Bella, turn around slowly, and look."

I turned as slowly as I could, not wanting to scare whatever it was off. I felt my mouth form a smile. The sight that presented itself was so beautiful, so natural; I could not take my eyes off of it.

A few feet away, a female deer and a buck were nuzzling each other's necks. Although the doe was just an animal, assumed to be dumb and incapable of feeling, I thought I saw the same look in her eyes that I felt when Edward held me.

He put his arms around my waist and pulled me against him. I could feel that he was still smiling. We said nothing; we could not disturb the moment.

Then, as if from no where, a smaller deer came prancing towards it's parents. The mother and father looked at us, and soon where frolicking away.

Edward stretched around to meet my lips, kissed me softly, and then lead me towards the general direction of his house.

When the Cullen yard was in sight, Edward spoke. "I want to show you our backyard. It's very… romantic." Edward's velvet voice never seized to take the breath out of me.

I could not imagine what he meant. How could a yard be romantic?

My question was answered instantly when we rounded the corner of his house.

Colored lights where hung everywhere, giving the yard a tinted look. The lights changed colors simultaneously. When we entered, the yard looked pink.

In one corner, a gazebo was set up, surrounded by flowers. Vines grew up the sides and around the roof. Little boxes were placed on each side, filled with more flowers. These ones were lilies.

Then, closer to the house, was an in-ground Jacuzzi. It was on and bubbling. The inside was lined with the same colored lights. The water was tinted the same color as the yard. A small freezer was set up on the ground next to it. A bottle of expensive champagne was resting in a container filled with ice. Two unused glasses sat next to it.

I could not understand why there was a freezer and champagne. Vampires couldn't eat. They could, but they had to hack it up later.

Then, across from the Jacuzzi, a hammock was lightly swaying in the wind. A large stereo was placed against the house. It was playing soft romantic music.

"Edward! This is so beautiful!" I exclaimed.

"Do you like it?" Edward asked me, shyly.

"Of course! How could I not?" I stopped. Everything seemed suspiciously set up. "Did you prepare this for me?"

"I did not." He replied, slyly. "Although, I had Alice and Esme fix it up." I couldn't help but grin. Everything was exquisite.

Edward tugged on my hand. I followed him to the hammock. The yard was now tinted green. He laid down and patted the space next to him. I sat next to him, still transfixed by the yard around me.

I snuggled into Edward's arms breathing the scent that I craved. He tilted his head down and kissed my nose. Then he moved his face back, and went in to kiss me again. I thought he was now going to kiss me where I wanted his lips, but he kissed my forehead. He continued kissing my face in various places, making me want him even more. Finally, his soft, tender lips found mine, and he licked my bottom lip. Then he pulled away. I sighed.

He had so much control over me. It was wonderful and horrible at the same time.

I was relaxed in my angel's arms. I looked up at his flawless features. I was about to kiss him when I heard the music take a drastic change.

I heard the song "This is Why I'm Hott" come blasting out from the stereo. What was going on? I looked up at Edward questioning.

He seemed confused and angered. Then I looked over at the sliding glass door. It was open, and a gangster dressed Emmett came parading out, followed by a pimped-out Jasper.

"This is why I'm hott! This is why I'm hott! I'm hott cause I'm fly! You ain't cause your not!" They rapped. They were so offbeat. I couldn't help but laugh. They looked hysterical. Edward was shaking with silent laughter. But then he became serious.

"YOOO! You homies better take the show on the road! And put our music back on," he yelled. The ganster talk did not suit Edward one bit. Emmett and Jasper were on the ground cracking up.

"Alright G!" They could barley speak; they were laughing so hard. Within seconds, they were gone and the romantic music was back on.

"They are really crazy," I pointed out.

"Yeah, they get bored. What is there to do in an eternity? They find ways to entertain themselves." He was gazing at the almost-set sun. I took Edwards hand and ran my finger along his hard skin.

A few minutes later, I heard the rustling of leaves. I was sure that Jasper and Emmett were up to no good again.

I looked up at Edward with a smile. He looked extremely angry and worried.

"What is it?" I whispered. He did not reply, but stood up and walked slowly over to the back of his yard. The woods continued back there. He moved over a large branch filled with large leaves that covered the ground around it.

I stifled a gasp. Behind the branch, was a dirty and pained looking Mike.

"Help me…" he pleaded.

**A/N: OMG! MIKEEEE. WTF? What will happen???**

**Review if you want more. ****If you want to hear that GANGSTER song, its call This Is Why I'm Hott by M.I.M.S. HAHA. It's pretty awesome.**


	7. Mike

**A/N: Love You Guys! Enjoy the Chappy!**

_**Disclaimer:**_

Me: _sings_ Cookies, cookies. I like cookies. Would you like some cookies, friend?

Friend: SURE! … Why do they say, "I do not own Twilight" on them?

Me: Well, I figured that reality would leave me alone if I fight fire with fire.

Friend: _stares _… Taylor… Something is wrong with you.

Me: Yeah… I'm starting to think that too.

**Chapter Seven**

**Mike**

Edward dropped the branch and stormed into the house faster then I could blink. I was stunned. When I finally came to my senses, I ran over to the edge of the forest. I was suddenly not sure I had seen him. Cautiously, I bent to lift the branch.

I almost dropped it again when I saw Mike's face up close. He had a huge scratch on the left side of his face from his temple to the corner of him mouth. It looked very deep and blood was pouring from it.

His right eye was bruised and he had other smaller scratches in various places. I noticed that his bottom lip was beginning to puff out like he had been punched. The rest of his body was covered in bumps, bruises and cuts.

He tried to prop himself up to see me.

"Mike!" I exclaimed.

"Bella…" he started, but then he collapsed. I was mortified. Was he dead? A tear escaped my eye. I put my head to his chest and listened.

Thump, thump. Thump, thump. He was alive! I began to laugh while the tears poured from my eyes.

I was only half conscious when I felt someone lift me off the ground. The next thing I was aware of was somebody shaking me harshly. I looked up and saw Alice's sallow looking face. Her eyes were wide.

"Are you okay?" she asked anxiously.

"Yes, I'm fine. Where is Mike? Is he okay? What happened?" I was extremely worried.

"Actually, I don't know. Carsile just took him up to one of the open bedrooms. You were only out for about five minutes," she responded.

"Lets go see him then!" I almost screamed. Wordlessly, Alice stood to lead me to the room Mike was in.

The walk seemed like forever. I tried to prepare myself for the worst. Mike could be dead. No. I wouldn't think that. I couldn't.

After an eternity, we reached the door. Alice knocked. The sound seemed to echo into oblivion. Everything seemed to move in slow motion. Finally, Carsile swung open the door, and time flew back to normal.

"Come on in, Bella," he said softly, but his face was hard. I looked behind me, but Alice was gone. I guessed that everyone had to leave the house. Even I could smell the blood.

"Carsile… is he going to be okay?"

He looked at me, trying to decide what to say. "Honestly… I don't know. Aside from the deep cut on his head, he had many injuries and he lost a lot of blood. I discovered a gash in his stomach and found that his left arm is broken. I cleaned him up the best I could. He is sleeping right now."

I looked at Carsile. I could not read his expression. This must have been a pain for him. Having a human that did not know about the vampire's existence probably brought on a lot of problems.

"…Thank you, again."

He nodded in response and left me to be with Mike alone.

I stood on the other side of the room, just watching him. His breaths came in at an irregular pattern. Bandages covered most of his face, and his arm was propped up in a sling.

A chair was placed next to the bed. I tried to sit in it without causing any noise, but I failed entirely. I tripped over air and fell onto the chair.

"Ow," I muttered. I got seated comfortably, and peeked up at Mike. His tired eyes were looking back at me.

"Hi," I said lamely.

"Hey. I have a lot to tell you. But… where am I?"

"You are at the Cullen's."

"Are any of them listening?" he asked as his eyes swept the room.

I sighed. I knew Edward was listening from wherever he was. I lied anyway.

"Nope."

"Good. Bella… I'm so sorry for what I did. I had no control… this lady… Vikki… she tricked me. She told me if I listened to her, I would get to … kiss you." He blushed. I didn't bother to interrupt him to reveal that I already knew all this. It would only make things harder.

I listened intently.

"I know this is going to sound crazy, but she got into my head. Like… dude. I couldn't help it, because I already told her yes. She did all this in the middle of school, right before lunch. I forget how she got me to talk to her.

Then she gave me a CD and told me to get you to come outside. She said if you listened to it, you would forget all of 'that boy's warnings.' I wanted to protest, but like I said, I couldn't do anything.

When we got out there… me and you… in the forest… I was fighting with her as hard as I could. Bella… I didn't want to hurt you. I want you, but I would never hurt a girl just to get her to kiss me.

After I let you go, Vikki came to me in person. She knocked me out. When I woke up, I did not know where I was. All I know is that it wasn't that far away. Like it was… but not. Ya know?"

"Yeah." I laughed in my head. I could tell he was too confused to explain it sophistically.

He looked relieved. He then continued. "Well, I was in this cave type thing, and something smelled really bad. I turned around and saw Vikki. She had blood all over her shirt and her mouth. I-I was so scared. It was like something out of a nightmare. She said not to worry.

Then, she started… talking to herself. Or maybe she was talking to me. It was hard to tell. I heard her say that she was going to get you. To kill you. You, Bella. She said something about a mate for a mate. I didn't know what to do. I just knew that I needed to get out of there.

When I tried to run, she turned around really fast. Faster than I would have thought possible. I tried to fight her, but she was way strong. Her nails did this, Bella," he said pointing to his face. "I don't know how I did it… but I got out of there. I ran until I could run anymore. And then I ran some more until I found a street. I got a ride to Forks. I don't know what happened after that. Its really blurry…" he trailed off. I noticed that he was sweating and breathing heavy. He must have put up a great fight to Victoria. Not only that, but she must have been tired, injured, or maybe she just didn't care. And why did he keep referring to her as Vikki?

"Mike, try to get some rest."

"You believe me right?" he asked. I could tell he thought he was crazy.

"I do. But I want you to sleep." He nodded as I started to stand. When I was at the door, I turned back to look at him. He was already asleep.

I made my way downstairs to find the Cullens. I knew Victoria wasn't going to stop hunting me until she got her way. I did not know what to do.

When I reached the porch, I found the whole family sitting. I went over to Edward and buried my head in his chest.

"What are we going to do?" I didn't look up at him, because I could feel the tears beginning to come. I was trying my hardest to keep them in.

No one said anything. I suddenly felt a wave of calm flow over me. I turned to Jasper. He was standing at the far end of the porch, away from me.

I mouthed 'thank you' to him. I really needed that. He nodded discreetly then turned to hold Alice's hand. I usually did not like when he did that to me, but it was too hard to deal with right now.

Emmett was the first one to speak.

"I think we should get her. Kill Victoria. That seems like the easiest solution."

"Do you really think that will be easy?" Rosalie hissed.

"No, it won't be easy, but it seems like our only option," Carlisle answered.

Everyone was silent for what seemed like forever. Then, it was Jasper's turn to talk.

"Well, when are we going to put this plan into action?" His voice was quiet and dark, like he was telling a secret, but he was clearly heard. I realized that this voice was very mysterious. It would be irresistible to the average human.

"Tonight we will plan everything and tomorrow night we will act."

**A/N Number Two: Guys, I didn't want to end there. But, I had to. Sorry. I think I'm going to try and write the next one tonight and post it tomorrow when I get home from school. Either that, or I'm gonna write it tomorrow and post it at like 7ish 8ish. If I don't, I'm sorry. Seriously.**

**I welcome comments, praise, or critiquing.**

**Also, I'm debating whether to kill off Mike or not. Let me know your opinion.**


	8. Author's Note

_**Author's Note:**_

**OMC Guys, I'm really sorry. I promised I was going to have the chapter up by today… but it didn't happen. My lizard had to go to the hospital… he's really sick. There is so much I have to do for him to make sure he doesn't die. He's just a baby. I'm so upset. There are a lot of other things going on. I may not be able to get the next chapter posted until the weekend. I'm not gonna stop writing though. I needed to let you know, because I feel bad about falsely informing you. Thanks for reading though!**

**-Taylor.**


	9. Injection

_**Disclaimer:**_ _I just don't care anymore._

**Chapter Eight**

**Injection**

The Cullen's decided to meet soon after they made the choice to act. I declared that I did not want to be there at the moment. I told them to call me if they needed me. I would be wandering the house.

I was sitting in Edward's room, when I remembered Mike. He must be so confused right now. Hopefully, he was still sleeping. I got up and walked out to the hallway. Mike's door was still closed. That was a good sign.

I had to talk to him, but I was not quite sure what I had to tell him. Did he need to know everything? I could not even imagine what he thought was going on. He was probably so confused that we could convince him it did not happen. After we got all the information out of him, we could must likely tell him that he fell and hit his head. That he made it all up.

That was great idea! Maybe that was what I would do.

I hesitated as I reached out to open his door. It might be a better idea to talk to Edward and his family first. From Edward, I would find out all the details we needed to get out of Mike. Then I would talk to him and see what he remembered.Carlisle would probably have an injection that we could give him to knock him out for a while. Everything would be simple from there.

The stairs backstabbed me yet again. As I was _walking_ down the stairs, deep in thought, my feet fumbled and I fell on my butt the last few steps. My face turned beat red, expecting the room to burst out with laughter. It was silent.

Surprise swept over me as I searched the room with my eyes. I was sure the Cullens were going to be in the living room holding their meeting. I could not help but be a little bit relieved. No one saw my embarrassing stunt.

I made my way into the kitchen, but no one was there either. I began to worry.

Slowly, I walked back into the living room. If I called out, one of the vampires would find me... if they were in the house.

"Edward? Where are you?" I called. Within seconds, Edward was by my side. He seemed to come from the kitchen. "How...?"

"We don't like to hold our meetings in obvious places," he explained.

"Where were you then? There is no other door leading out of the kitchen..."

He waved my question off. "What do you need?"

"I was thinking..." I started. I paused, trying to word my thoughts correctly.

Edward started getting impatient. "What were you thinking?" He repeated. I could tell he was trying to be kind, but he was very agitated.

"Did you guys figure out what to do with Mike? Because I was thinking we could get all the information out of him and then lead him to believe he made it all up!" I was out of breath by the time I finished. I didn't want him to think my idea was stupid. He probably already had a better one.

Edward surprised me by smiling. "You are thinking just what we were thinking."

I relaxed. "So, what do you need me to do? You have to tell me exactly. Edward, I don't want to mess this up..."

"Relax, Bella. I'll explain everything." And then he did. We did not need to know much more than we already did. Just in case, he gave me some extra questions that he didn't think Mike would know, but he told me to ask them anyway. When he was done explaining, Edward left for a second (literally) and came back with a bag. He told me it was an injection that would knock Mike out for a while. It would cloud his brain a little bit too. After the side effects wore off and we explained that he "hit his head," he would think this was all just a bad dream.

After he finished, Edward told me to get to it. I began up the steps and then turned around to look at his face one more time. He had already vanished.

I trudged up the steps and down the hall. When I got to Mike's door, I pushed my ear up against it, listening. I heard the sound of Mike's strained, heavy breathing. I guessed that he was still sleeping.

As quietly as I could, I pushed the door slowly open. Just like I suspected, Mike was asleep. I sat in the chair next to the bed for the second time that day. For a couple of seconds, I watched him. I watched the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed. Although he could be a pest, he was a truly innocent human being. It wasn't right that he had to be pulled into this mess.

Then, I rested my hand on his good arm, and gently prodded him. His eyes flickered open; instant fear in his eyes.

"Its okay, Mike. It's just me. I'm here to talk," I said as calmly as I could.

"Oh," was all he responded.

"I need to know some things and I would like you to try and remember as much as you can. We are going to get her." I did not explain who "we" was. Edward said to give him as little extra information as I could, so it would be easier to make him forget. I did not have to explain who "her" was either. I was sure the memory was fresh in his mind.

He just nodded, so I began.

"Can you tell me what this woman, um, Vikki," I flinched at the use of the nickname, "looked like?"

"Sure. She had fiery red hair and she reminded me of a cat for some reason. She was always looking around and being sneaky. Her face was very pale and ... her eyes... they were... red." Mike glanced down and tried to fiddle with his thumbs, but found that one of his thumbs was hidden in the sling.

Victoria did not sound like she changed. The Cullens wanted to make sure they knew what they were looking for, incase she was clever enough to disguise herself. I guess she wasn't.

"Okay. Try to remember. Where were you when she took you away? Did she say anything about it?"

Mike scrunched up his face like he did in the forest, except this time, he was genuinely thinking.

"I don't know," he sighed in defeat. "But I remember her saying something about just far enough so someone couldn't hear her."

I guessed she was talking about Edward. She probably was only a mile or two away. She didn't really leave, then.

"At any time, did Vikki have another person with her? Did she seem to talk to anyone?"

He paused a minute before responding. "She tried to get a hold of someone... I don't know who it is. It was a long distance call, I think. I don't believe she got a hold of him. Or her. I don't know."

Oh no. What if she was trying to contact the Volturi? That would not be good. I didn't think they would help her, but I could not be one hundred percent sure.

"Did she say anything... that sounded... supernatural to you?" That sounded very corny, but i couldn't think of another way to word it.

Mike looked scared for a minute. He hesitated. "She said something... about... vampires..." his eyes searched mine. I figured he was making sure I didn't think he was crazy.

"Did she say anything about... biting you?" I didn't want to scare him, but I was curious.

"...Yes." His voice barley came out in a whisper. "She said... that if I tried to run away... or tell you... she would... drain my blood until my heart stopped beating." His eyes welled up. "Bella, I don't want to die."

I was horrified at his reaction. I didn't know what to do. I tried to comfort him the best I could.

"Mike, you are not going to die. I promise you. Don't even worry." I embraced him in a hug. He composed himself and once again became brave. I could not blame him. This was a scary position to be in. "I only have one more question. Then everything will be back to normal. I promise."

"What is the question?" he asked me.

"Why do you think Victoria let you go?" This was the most important question of all.

"You mean Vikki?" he questioned. I nodded. "She told me why."

I gasped. I had not expected this. What could her motive be behind this?

"What did she say?" I asked tentatively.

"As I was struggling with her, she pulled me into an iron hug and whispered something in my ear. She said, 'I'll let you go, but don't think you've seen the end of me. Tell her I'm coming, and she won't get away from me this time.'" His eyes showed fear beyond any a normal human has ever felt. He kept himself calm on the outside. I was frozen in my seat. "She said it didn't matter if I got away then because she would still kill me. She said... by me telling you... it would make her game more fun." A look of disgust washed over his face. "Bella. She thinks this is a game. Killing, to her, is a game!"

I felt my tears beginning to come. I had to make him forget this. He didn't deserve it.

"Don't worry, Mike. This will all be over soon," I stuttered. I picked up the bag that I brought in the room with me. Edward told me to inject him with this stuff, but I knew I couldn't do it.

"Edward, please, make Carlisle do it. Please," I begged. My words were barley audible, but Carlisle was by my side instantly. My eyesight was blurred and I suddenly became deaf.

I knew Mike was frightened, and I knew he was panicking. I tried to tell him not to worry, but I didn't hear myself say anything. I blinked to clear my eyes. Carlisle was injecting Mike with the substance.

The last thing I saw was Mike eyes shutting against his free will. Then, everything went black.

**A/N: Mike isn't dead.**

**My lizard died today...**


	10. A Story

**A/N: First of all, I'm extremely sorry for not updating in forever. My life got off track there for a while, but now its back on. I'll be updating more often again. For my readers who I lost, I'm SO SORRY and I hope you start reading again. For my readers who didn't give up. THANK YOU. I love you!!!!**

**I actually don't think there is a second of all. If there is I'll mention it later… cause I think I forget. Haha.**

**OMC I remember. (this is like ten minutes later just to let you know). I added a line at the end of chapter 2 so the story sounds more like the title. It isn't a lot, but enough. YA KNOW?!**

_**Disclaimer:**_

Me: Dude. Have you heard about Twilight?! ITS FREAKING AWSOME.

Random Person on the Street: Yeah, I've heard of it. It sucks. And I know you don't own it. Don't even try to put that past me.

Me: _starts to get all mad and wants to fight. Then calms down. _Dude. Dude. I can't even talk to you anymore. And I KNOW I DON'T OWN IT! WHY DOES EVERY ONE SAY THAT! GOSH!

Reality: Why do you even bother?

Me: Shut up. _Storms away all huffy._

**Chapter Nine**

**A Story**

Someone was prodding me gently on the arm. I did not want to wake up. I shifted my weight and turned onto my side. Cool lips pressed against my cheekbone and I heard my love's soft, velvet voice.

"Bella, you need to wake up."

I peeked at him through one of my closed lids. He was looking at me, but his expression was unreadable.

Slowly, I pushed myself into a sitting position.

"How's Mike?" I asked in a groggy voice.

"Mike is still knocked out, but the substance will not last much longer. We need you to be there when he wakes up."

"What am I going to tell him?" I had not thought about the story we would tell him. Yes, I knew to tell him he hit his head, but how? And why would the Cullens have him?

"We have created a story, but it is not the best. When he wakes up, he will not know where he is and will probably ask what happened. You will deliver the story as persuasively as you can. Carlisle and I will be there to aid you.

Since Mike has been away for a while now, we can't just come up with a story that says he hit his head. I think we should stay as close to the truth as possible.

We will say that Mike was kidnapped after school one day. We were not there, so we do not know everything that happened. All we know is that you and I were walking in the woods one day, and we came across an unconscious Mike. He was very beat up."

"Do you really think people will fall for that story?" I wondered aloud. It was not the greatest story because not many teenaged _boys_ were kidnapped.

"It is the best we have got. If worse comes to worst, we will have Jasper help out," he said, chuckling. Everything was so easy with vampires around.

Edward then stood wordlessly and pulled me by the hand. I stood, nervously. I knew this was a lie, and lying was not a talent of mine. I could not screw this up.

When we entered the room, Carlisle was already there with his medical bag open. He waited in the far side of the room. All there was to do now was wait.

Edward had his arms around me, and I snuggled into his chest, breathing in his scent. It was calming.

We waited for what seemed like eternity, not saying a word. Finally, Mike began to move. His eyes slowly opened, and he stretched his one good arm over his head. The cut on the side of his face was beginning to scab over. I could tell it would scar. Every time I would see him, I would be reminded of what really happened, because of me.

The fear that I had seen before in his eyes was replaced with curiosity, and then pain. He inspected his body and found himself covered in injuries. He looked around, seeing the people he was with.

"What… happened?" he asked incredulously.

"Mike…" I tried. Edward has released me from his comforting hold and was standing next to Carlisle.

I gained up enough courage and started again. I retold him everything Edward had told me. While I was speaking, Mike's eyes flicked to Edward and Carlisle. After I was finished, I sighed.

What had happened to Mike changed him for the better. By telling him this lie, all that experience was gone. He would be back to the regular teenaged Mike.

I was sure he would still have images of what happened, so he may understand things differently, but it would not be the same.

Hopefully, Mike could go back to his regular life. Even if he used this experience as gossip, he would be safer.

Carlisle said he would take him home and explain everything to his mom.

"You can borrow some of our clothes," Carlisle told him, since his old clothes were torn and dirty. I then noticed a set of clothing on the chair I sat in before. Carlisle gestured towards them. "We will leave you to get changed." Mike just nodded, shyly.

As Edward was leading me away, I told him that I should probably talk to Mike alone now. His face hardened, but he nodded. He continued towards his room.

A few minutes later, I knocked on Mike's door. He opened it cautiously, peeking out to see who it was. When he saw it was me, he opened all the way.

"Can I come in?" I asked gently.

"Sure," he responded flatly. He sat on the bed, so I sat next to him.

"Are you okay?" I knew that was a stupid question, but it seemed appropriate.

"Yeah. I just can't believe I was kidnapped. I don't remember any of it. I guess it's a cool experience though." He smiled. He was probably thinking about all the attention he would get. I sighed.

That proved to me that he was okay and back to normal. He was probably just being quiet because he was in the presence of the Cullens. That would be weird for any person at our school.

"You're ready to go then?"

He said he was, and I walked him downstairs. I saw that Carlisle was already outside, so I opened the door.

"Well, see ya at school I guess," I said awkwardly.

"Yeah," he replied looking at me, "at school." Then he walked to Carlisle's car and got in. They disappeared down the street.

When I turned around, Edward was waiting for me.

"Your eyes look tired," he said. I was not sure what I was supposed to respond to that. He came close to me and pressed his thumbs under my eyes.

Suddenly, I felt myself being carried up steps. Edward made his way to his room. He opened the door and whooshed inside. Tenderly, he sat me down on the couch and put on gentle music.

"I'm sorry everything has been hard for you," he told me. "I don't want you to have to go through this." The pain was evident in his voice.

"No, everything will be fine, I think."

Edward brushed the hair out of my face and kissed me softly on my lips.

"I love you," he whispered.

"I love you too." I stared into his topaz eyes. My thoughts began to drift to the Cullen's plans for Victoria. "Can you tell me what is going to happen with Victoria?"

He paused a moment before answering. "We have to first find out where she is. Tomorrow, when the sun goes down, most of the family and I will find out where she is. I do not want to go; I would much rather stay with you, but I am the only one who can read minds, and that is the easiest way to locate her."

"Who will stay with me?"

"Alice and Rosalie." I flinched when I heard Rosalie's name.

"Oh," was all I responded.

"If we find her, we will deal with her right then and there."

"By deal with her, do you mean… kill her?" I asked tentatively.

His eyes pierced into mine. I could see all the hatred he had for her. "Yes," he said, forcefully.

I dropped my gaze, afraid of what I would see in his eyes if I looked to long.

I watched my thumbs twirl around each other, not sure what to say. I felt a cold, hard hand pull my chin up. Edward looked down at me.

"Do not be afraid. Nothing bad will happen to you. We will kill Victoria and while we are out, Alice and Rosalie will take good care of you," he promised.

"I'm sure you had to fight with Rosalie to get her to watch over me," I muttered.

Edward's eyes turned sad. "You would be surprised at what actually happened. I feel bad that you two got off to a bad start. I am not saying she is the best. I have had many, many fights with her. But, Rosalie… she is… hard to understand. She is not as horrible as she acts towards you. Well, not all the time."

"I guess." Even I could hear the doubt in my voice. It is so hard to imagine Rosalie being nice… at least to me. I don't hate her, though.

"Try talking to her. It will be rough in the beginning, but she will loosen up. Give her a few smacks," Edward teased.

"Yeah right. Smacking her would probably cause me more harm that it does her," I said. My voice was serious.

Edward grazed the back of his hand across the side of my face. "Try it. Find out what she is about. And to what you said earlier… about having to force her… that's not how it went. She offered."

The breath caught in my throat. Rosalie had offered to protect me, when she could have been out fighting with the boys?

Suddenly, the phone rang. I jumped. I didn't think the Cullens ever got phone calls. Also, the only sound before was the quiet music, and I was lost in my thoughts. I looked at Edward, and he looked just as confused as I.

The ringing stopped after the first time, so we figured someone had answered it. Edward and I rushed downstairs to see who it was.

Edward knew who it was as soon as we entered the room. I knew soon after.

"Calm down, she is here. Don't worry," Carlisle was saying into the receiver. I heard muffled, distressed yelling on the other end. It was Charlie.

"Punished? Well, I- No, no. Of course they are being supervised. Oh Charlie, don't you think it has been long enough for the poor girl?" Silence followed this. I could no longer hear muffled yelling.

"Mhm. Yes. I assure you they are being supervised. Yes. Yes. No! My heavens no. Yes. Okay. Alright, Charlie. Would you like to talk to her? Okay just a minute." Carlisle gestured the phone at me.

I walked towards it as slowly as I could, nervous about what Charlie would say. "Hello?" He did not say anything for a few seconds.

"Hi, Bells." I started to mumble my apology, but Charlie stopped me. "Listen, you have been punished for quite a while. I know you have obeyed me during that whole time and maybe you think it's enough. I agree. You're off the hook."

"Dad…" I wasn't comfortable expressing my emotions, especially with two vampires watching me. "Thanks." I muttered weakly.

"I love you Bella."

"I love you too."

"I'll call you later. Bye."

"Bye." I hung up the phone. I was off punishment, but for some reason, I didn't feel happy at all. I let Charlie down again. And he thought I had obeyed him the rest of the time I was punished. I knew I hadn't.

"Thanks for helping me out Carlisle. I couldn't have survived that without you," I said truthfully.

He chortled. "No problem Bella." He then made his way out of the kitchen, shaking his head with a smile on his face the whole way out.

Edward reached for my hand, but someone else got there first. Alice started to pull me up the stairs.

"Hey, where are you taking her?" Edward growled. I turned to see him grinning. I could tell he was okay with letting my hang out with my best friend for a little bit.

"I'm taking her forever!" Alice shrieked as she picked me up and began to run.

"Oh no you don't!" I heard Edward yell. But he was too late. We were already in Alice's room.

She had set up tons of snack food all over the room and had upbeat music playing in the background.

"Tonight is girls night!" she squealed in delight. I shook my head. She could be so girlish at times. As long as there were no makeovers involved, I knew the rest of the night would be fun.

"I hope you don't expect me to eat _all _that food!"

**A/N: The next chapter should be interesting. Haha.**

**Oh if you haven't noticed, reality and I have this thing going on. We really don't like each other. He (yes reality has a gender) is out to get me. We will see who prevails in the end.**

**-Taylor. ( I'm a star! YAY! )**


	11. Girl's Night

**_Disclaimer:_**

Reality: _wakes Taylor up in morning. _Good Morning. Just thought I would give you a wonderful start to this day. I'm going to let you know that you don't own Twilight.

Me: SHUT UP! SHUT UP! I HATE YOU SO MUCH. YOU ARE RUINING MY LIFE! I KNOW I DON'T OWN TWILIGHT!

Mom: _From afar._ Go to your happy place Taylor. It will make it better!

Me: Goosefraba... goosefraba _calms down and becomes dreamy eyed._

Reality: Maybe I did too much damage to this kid. _Inches away_

**Chapter Ten**

**Girl's Night!**

"I don't expect you to eat all of it. I just wanted to give you a big selection," Alice giggled, "And the marshmallows are for a fight."

I shook my head, laughing.

"A fight? I'm scared. I'll probably end up getting hurt even if they are marshmallows!"

Alice shrieked in laughter, and as if to prove my point, she grabbed a marshmallow and hurled it and my head. It hurt.

"Ow! I'm going to have a bruise now," I said, my voice faking seriousness.

"Oh no. Edward is going to kill me. Are you all right, Bella?" Her joyful continence turned worried.

"Gotcha!" I yelled cracking up. I knew she would be worried about hurting me.

"Hey! That is an unfair weakness to use on me!" Alice complained.

"You're saying I'm unfair?! You have the vampire advantage. I should be able to use any weakness I find."

I surveyed her room more closely. It was hard to describe. It felt sunny and happy, but in a dark way. The walls were also difficult to explain. They were a bright, dark blue. There was a bed on the far wall. It was extremely cool because it could be pushed up into the wall when it didn't need to be used. When it was pushed up, the wall that covered it was a celestial tiled picture. The bed was pushed up at the moment, and I studied the picture for a few minutes. It seemed to explain something I couldn't understand. It went deeper than most fun, childish, celestial decorations.

I was facing a huge entertainment center. On the top was a huge stereo system and speakers were placed on each side of the center. A television was placed in the center, and on each side of it were cabinets. The one on the left had a glass door, so you could see inside of it. It was separated into two sections. On the top, I could see roses, but they weren't ordinary roses. They were the same color blue as the walls. They seemed to be covered in dew, even though they were placed inside.

"Alice! Look at those flowers! Are they real?" I asked incredulously.

"Of course they are real," Alice replied a matter-of-factly.

"How?"

"They are special. Esme grows them," was all she responded. I could tell they were some how connected to vampires. They were unbelievably beautiful.

Her whole room mystified me. I didn't have enough time to survey the rest of it, because Alice started talking.

"I don't even remember what it is like to be human. Are you always warm inside?" she asked me. She didn't seem upset, but she wasn't peppy and smiling.

"Well, yeah kinda. You still feel cold, though. I don't really know, because I haven't experienced anything else."

Alice then grabbed my hand and held it to her face, taking in the warmth. Her sudden movement startled me, but she looked content, so I kept my mouth shut.

"So, what do you think about Jessica?" she questioned. My hand was still on her face and her eyes were still closed. I was still a little startled, so my response was hesitant.

"She's... okay. I mean, she was the first one that was nice to me in the school. She is too... I don't know. She seems like a regular teenaged girl. Nothing special," I liked Jessica in most ways, but sometimes, she bothered me.

"Oh. I see."

"Why, are you worried that I like her better?" I teased.

"I would hope not! My, my, that would be a disgrace." I giggled at that. She then let my hand drop and she opened her eyes.

"It must be hard for normal human girls," Alice stated.

"What must be hard?" I asked, confused.

"The whole dating thing and the guys."

"Oh... I guess. It does get complicated..." I started to explain, but Alice cut me off.

"No! I don't mean like that. I mean because the boys are so... ordinary looking!" We both burst out in hysterics. She was right. Compared to these gorgeous vampires, everything must be ugly.

But, I had to admit, the boys at Forks High School were nothing special. The ones that weren't ugly were just, normal looking. Cute. Not unbelievably beautiful. With the exception of Edward and the Cullens.

I could not believe how _normal_ Alice was talking. If someone were listening in, it would sound like two teenaged girls talking about school, with a few exceptions. She began to squawk about the okay looking guys at the school and the totally weird ones. I laughed and joked along with her. It was fun to act normal for a little while.

Alice criticized almost everybody in our school. It was strange to see how she knew almost everything about everybody. I guessed it was to be expected. She knew everything the teachers taught, and her senses were enhanced.

After a while of gossiping, you could call it, Alice asked me a question I dreaded talking about.

"So... have you ever thought about having sex with Edward?" A mischievous smile crept onto her face.

I felt the blood rush to my cheeks. I had never really straight out thought about it, but I was only human, and I couldn't deny my hormones completely.

"Alice!" I exclaimed. "What kind of question is THAT?!"

She giggled. "I'm just asking. Have you ever had sex before?"

Every time I heard her say sex so calmly, it unnerved me. I wasn't comfortable talking about it, and she obviously didn't have a problem.

"No, Alice! I haven't even ever had a boyfriend before Edward. He was my first kiss, too."

"You're missin out!" she yelled. I blushed a deeper red.

"I'm guessing you and Jasper..." I couldn't finish the sentence.

"Hell yeah." She suddenly traveled to a memory, clearly about what we were talking about. Her grin grew greater and she hugged her chest.

"ALICE!" I screamed. I couldn't believe we were having this conversation, let alone the fact that she was thinking about her and Jasper.

"Sorry, sorry. Do you think you and Edward will?" She was serious.

"You know we can't. He would, like, loose his nerve and forget his strength or something. And what about..." My voice trailed off.

"I guess you'll find out everything about that later, when he plans to sex you up!" she shrieked in laughter.

"ALICE CULLEN!!!!!!" I could not understand why she was doing this to me.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding. But there is probably a whole lot of information about what you guys can do or whatever. I'm sure Carlisle knows all about it. Maybe he'll just wait until he changes you."

"If he ever does. I don't understand why he won't change me. We could live together forever and I want nothing more than that." My voice saddened.

"Don't worry. He'll get to it. Trust me." Smart people would never bet against Alice.

She let the silence between us grow, which gave me some time to think. I grabbed a bowl of cool ranch Doritos and started munching on them. I thought about Edward and why he was denying me.

Alice was so quiet; I didn't hear her get up. I only realized she had left when she was sitting back down with many bags of makeup and hair products.

"NO! I refuse to let you use me as a guinea pig," I stated forcefully.

"Shh. Don't complain. I need my fun."

"Go have your fun with Jasper. Dress him up." Her eyes got a faraway look as if she was imagining how much fun that would be.

"DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT, ALICE!" came Jasper's voice echoing down the hallway. He had heard me suggest that to her. Alice smiled mischievously, yet again.

"Listen, it will be fun. You can't say that you don't enjoy looking beautiful."

"Yes I can! I can! I like the way I am right here, right now," I was not going to give in.

"Bella... I don't even remember my human life... I never got the chance to experience this." She lowered her eyes and her mood became very morose.

"Fine," I groaned, "But, only because I love you so much."

As she primped and polished, I did everything in my power to make the task difficult for her. When she wanted me to close my eyes, I would hold them open as tightly as I could. When she went to apply the lip-gloss, I shoved a mouthful of snacks in my trap and chewed very slowly. I was mostly teasing her, but I was reluctant to have this done. Alice treated this like a game. What I was doing were just challenges for her, and they made the game all that much more fun.

After much pulling and patting and applying, my hair and makeup was complete. Alice then glided to her closet, and pulled out a dark blue skintight dress. It was short, but it grew longer on the other side and came together in a point. **(Sorry if that is hard to picture... it's hard to explain. I'll see if I can get a picture of something like it.)** It had a halter-top, so the back was open. It was a V-neck, and at the point where the V ended, there was a cluster of diamonds. They looked real.

She stuffed me into it, but left me barefoot. As she shoved me in front of the mirror, I took in my appearance. I was beautiful, no doubt, but I felt uncomfortable.

"You look ADORABLE!" Alice squealed.

"Thanks, Alice. It's very pretty."

Then, Alice whipped out a camera. I barley had time to react. She flashed a picture and turned it around to show me. Somehow, she caught me in a perfect moment. I wasn't smiling, but my features were perfect. I looked like a model. Before I could comment, Alice declared that it was time to take everything off.

"ALICE! I just got all this on." I was flabbergasted. Not that I wanted to keep it on, but her doing this seemed to be a complete waste.

"Hush. I'm sure you want to take it off."

Another forty-five minutes flew by, and she got everything off. Somehow, there was no trace of makeup on my face anywhere. She had straightened my hair, so we just left that be. As I was fixing my shirt, someone slammed open the door waltzed in. It was Rosalie.

"Edward says he has to take Isabella home." She said this as if I wasn't standing right next to Alice.

"Why didn't he come up here himself?" Alice asked politely.

"He smelled all the makeup and perfume and he didn't want to get involved. He sent me to inform her." After she said this, she stormed out.

"Well, this was fun," I laughed.

"Definitely. We need to do it more often."

"NOT the makeover part," I demanded. She just giggled and pushed me out the door.

**A/N: Okay. I fixed everything. It should make more sense now. YAY. Alice is crazy.**


	12. Emotion Overload

**A/N: Okay. I am so confused with everything that they have on this site. What are C2s or whatever? And are there people that can edit your stuff before you put it up? And what are those forums? I want to do more things on here, but I don't know how. If you want, you can explain to me what some stuff is… but only if you feel like it.**

_**Disclaimer:**_

Me: I don't own Twilight.

Reality: No. You don't. Aha. You suck.

Me: … Do you want a cookie?

Reality: …

**Chapter Eleven**

**Emotion Overload**

Edward was waiting for me when I got downstairs. His face held a mocking grin on it.

"Did you have fun, Bella?" It was obvious that he was trying to keep his voice even.

"That is not funny, Edward Anthony Cullen," I stated as I grabbed my coat and started towards the door.

"Goodbye, everyone!" My voice was not strained; I was talking in a normal indoor voice. A chorus of goodbyes rang throughout the house. With my farewells completed, I stormed out the door. Edward followed me with that stupid grin still plastered on his face.

"Oh Bella. You are so adorable."

"I'm… adorable? How?" Edward and his crazy thoughts.

"The way you pout when you are frustrated." He opened the car door and I shrugged in. Almost as soon as he closed my door, he was seated next to me, starting the car.

"Why didn't you rescue me?" I whined.

"We need to let Alice have her fun." He pursed his lips, holding back a laugh.

"No. You just think it's funny."

"Maybe a little." I growled and punched him in the arm. I knew he could barely feel it, but it was the only thing that I could think of to do. Edward looked at me with puppy dog eyes and pouted his lip as he rubbed the place where I had hit him.

I was startled by how beautiful that made him look. It almost made him look innocent.

When he heard my sudden intake of breath, he dropped the act and became concerned.

"What is the matter?"

"You are just too perfect," I sighed. A look of disapproval washed over his face.

"I am anything but perfect," he replied forcefully. I knew that was the end of that conversation.

After a few moments of silence, Edward spoke again.

"Everything is set for tomorrow." His statement confused me momentarily, but then I realized what he was talking about. Finding Victoria.

"Oh. Well, That's… good, I guess." Just then, I remembered something. "Oh! It is a school day tomorrow!" I guess my grade was going to be skyrocketing back down. All the time spent doing my homework during my punishment was a waste.

Edward looked at me with amusement.

"Would you be very upset if you missed another day?"

"No, I guess not. But you need to help me catch up, if we ever go back." Edward knew everything the school could teach. Surely he wouldn't mind helping me out a tiny bit.

"I will help you, but I will not give you the answers," he said firmly. I pushed out my bottom lip and crossed my arms over my chest. He pretended he didn't see me. Edward had such strong beliefs.

When my house came into view, I saw the lights where on. Charlie was still up.

"I will take the car back and return, okay?"

"Okay."

I made my way to the front door and walked in. The television could be heard in the background. Charlie was watching some sport's show. Suddenly, I was feeling awkward and unsure. I still felt horribly about disobeying my parent yet again.

"Bella?" Charlie called from the other room.

"Yeah it's me, Dad," I shouted back as I made my way into the back room. When I walked through the doorway, I stood still, looking at my feet.

"Dad… I'm sorry," I muttered lamely. I did not know how to express what was happening. I was sure he knew that it was not like me to disobey so often. Not purposely.

Charlie quietly got up from his overstuffed chair and strolled over to the spot I was standing. After a second of hesitation, he threw his arms around me into a giant bear hug. He held me tightly in a fatherly way and ruffled my hair. My father then pushed me back gently, still holding my arms firmly. He took one hand away to brush away a single tear that had escaped my eye. He pushed my chin up and looked me in my eyes.

"Bella, I love you so much. You are still my little baby girl. If anything is going on, you know you can talk to me about it. I'll always be here for you. Always."

I breathed in, my breath shaking. I tried to control my voice.

"Dad, I love you, too. Everything is fine," I said unconvincingly. I didn't even try to make him believe me. Charlie looked at me, unsure. I could tell he was debating whether to push the matter or not. He sighed and released my arms.

I glanced at the clock above the T.V. It was eleven o'clock. Charlie turned to see what I was looking at.

"Oh yes, you'd better be getting to sleep. You have school tomorrow."

I smiled weakly and began the journey to my bedroom. I felt Charlie's eyes watching me as I walked away from him.

When I reached my bedroom, I peeked in to see if Edward was there. He was, of course. He was relaxing on my bed, his hands under his head.

I moved all the way into my room and sat on the edge of my bed. Instantly, he was beside me, putting a comforting arm around me. I stayed still, just breathing in his unique, irresistible scent.

After collecting, calming, and relaxing myself, I stood ready to take a shower.

"I will be back. Shower-time," I declared. Edward just nodded and laid back down in his comfortable position.

I grabbed my bag of toiletries and my nightclothes and walked slowly into the bathroom.

After preparing myself for bed (teeth brushing, washing face, etc.), I turned on the water. The temperature was very hot, but not scorching. As I stepped into the tub, I pulled up the knob that started the shower. I let the water run all over my body as I breathed in the hot steam. Showers were so relaxing.

A fluffy towel dried me and I shoved myself into my pajamas. I slugged my way into my room. I was exhausted.

The lights in my room were already off, but from the light of the hallway, I could see Edward had pulled back my sheets and was waiting for me.

I crawled into bed, collapsing on the pillow. I barely felt Edward brushing my hair out of my face, because I was asleep soon after my head was down.

* * *

**I tried to kill the pain**

**But only brought more _so much more_**

**I lay dying**

**And I'm pouring crimson regret and betrayal**

**I'm dying dying**

**Praying praying**

**Bleeding bleeding**

**And screaming**

**Am I too lost to be saved?**

**Am I too lost?**

**My God, my tourniquet**

**Return to me salvation**

**My God, my tourniquet**

**Return to me salvation.**

**-Tourniquet, By Evanescence**

I awoke from a fitful sleep to the sound of the rocking chair squeaking against the hard wood floor. I looked over to see Edward swaying back and forth, obviously deep in thought. It seemed to be the middle of the night. As I watched him, the contents of my dream came flooding back to me.

In the dream, everything around me was dark. I felt lost and empty. Dark music in the background reflected my fear. I couldn't find Edward, but somehow I knew he was not coming.

Victoria's voice floated over the dark music. 'They won't find me. I'm coming for you,' it said. I ran and ran but there was nowhere to go. I felt something warm and wet on my hands. I looked down at them. They were covered in blood. I had no clue whose blood it was, but I began to feel nauseated.

I remembered thinking 'where is my God?' I was thinking of Edward. When I looked up, I saw four pairs of hungry eyes. Other than the eyes, I just saw their teeth. Sharp, pointy teeth. They were coming for me. They smelt the blood on my hands. I let out a sharp scream, and that was when I woke up.

Suddenly, I was terrified. I began to sob into my pillow. Edward came and wrapped his hands around me. He tried to calm me, and starting humming my lullaby. I found myself asleep with seconds.

* * *

Edward woke me by kissing my collarbone. My eyes fluttered open. I felt tear stains on my cheeks. I remember last night. How horrible that dream was. It did not seem as bad as it did last night, but it was still scary. Edward looked at me with sad eyes, but did not mention my episode from last night.

I looked at the clock. It was eight o'clock. Charlie probably went back to his normal schedule of working, so he was most likely not here.

I stretched my arms over my head and groaned. I noticed that Edward was watching me closely. I wanted to lighten the mood, so I quickly planted a kiss on his cheek and gave him a tremendous smile. The sides of his lips turned up, but just slightly.

I stumbled out of bed and almost fell. Edward was up instantly and caught me. He was smiling now.

"Silly Bella. You are so clumsy."

"Hey!" I countered, "It's early in the morning. Everyone is a little unbalanced right after they wake up." He only chuckled. "What should I wear today?"

"Well, I don't know," he stated dumbly, with a confused look on his face. He was startled by my question.

"I am going to take a human minute. I want you to pick out what I should wear. Put it on my bed for me, okay?" Edward looked at me to see if I was kidding or not. When he saw the seriousness in my face, his confusion turned to unnecessary determination. It was as if he was attempting to find gold. I pursed my lips and turn to go to the bathroom. When I was safely in, I shut the door. Then, I burst out laughing. The look on Edward's face was priceless.

When I came back into my room, I found a nice, comfortable brown sweat outfit laid out on my bed. A light brown camisole was put out also.

"Wow. Congratulations, you have great taste," I complimented. A smile crept onto his face.

"I thought you should wear something comfy today, since you will just be hanging with the girls."

"Good idea."

I grabbed the outfit, and when I thought Edward wasn't looking, I pulled out underwear and a bra from my drawer and folded them into the sweat outfit. As I tripped out of my room, I heard Edward laughing softly. I bet he saw me take out the underwear. Great.

I dressed and ran downstairs to eat my breakfast. Edward, of course, was already seated at the table.

"Do I have time to make waffles today?" I asked innocently.

"Sure you do. Take your time, my love," he responded sweetly. I looked at him for a minute longer, before starting everything.

The waffles turned out delicious. Edward watched me carefully while I was making them. We chatted blissfully as I chomped on the crunchy, syrup soaked waffles.

After I was finished, I cleaned my dishes and put them away. Edward got my jacket, and led me outside. I saw that his car was parked in the driveway.

"How is your car here? Didn't you take it back last night?"

"Yes, but Alice knew I would need it for this morning, so she drove it over after Charlie left," his voice sang.

I looked up at the sky. Dark clouds made the blue sky impossible to see. It was a little windy right now, and I could tell that it would rain later on.

Edward held the Volvo's door open and I climbed in. As he started the car, I secretly worried about the day ahead of me. No Edward. Just Alice and Rosalie. Would this turn into a catastrophe?

**A/N: The song was supposed to relate to her dream, just to let you know. The tourniquet is Edward.**

**I named the chapter _Emotion Overload_ because the dream was supposed to be a symbol that Bella had a lot of emotions going on, with Mike, Charlie, and Victoria and everything. If you picked up on that you are … WOW. If not then you are like me. I can't decipher symbols in stories for crap.**

**Oh jeez. I was rereading this chapter and I realized that Bella took a shower twice in one day. All well! BELLA LIKES HER SHOWERS. :-)**


	13. Seduction

**A/N: Thank you for the people that explained to me. Okay, if anyone is interested in being my… beta something or other (editor), tell me in a review. I would really like one. If not, it's cool.**

_**Disclaimer**_

Me: All right, where are you?

Reality: Right here…

Me: Look at this! _Show him an edited cover of Twilight. Instead of Stephenie Meyer, it says Taylor (_no last name thanks) WHAT CHA GONNA DO NOW?!

Reality: _snatches book._ What now? You don't own Twilight. You couldn't if you tried.

Me: Yeah I know. _Walks away. To herself: _Okay that was stupid.

**Chapter Twelve**

**Seduction**

When we reached the Cullen house, I strolled up to the front door, waiting for Edward to open it for me. I didn't wait long. We were greeted by an excited looking Alice.

"I am so glad it is going to be just us girls today. No immature boys to ruin our fun. It will be great," Alice sneered. I envied how Alice could turn a bad situation into an excited and anticipated day. Most of the family was going out to kill a murderous vampire (how ironic), and Alice was excited.

I turned around to hug Edward, knowing that I would soon be swiped away by Alice. I noticed that his eyes were black. Before, I had not paid any attention to his eyes getting darker over the days, because I had a lot on my mind.

"Edward! Are you thirsty? Do you need to go hunting?" I asked moving away a little bit to stop his temptations, if he had any.

Alice made a face. "Of course he needs to go hunting! That is what we are doing today. We are going in stages. First, Edward, Emmett, and Rosalie will go. Then, Jasper and I will go, and finally, Carlisle and Esme. We will make a day of it."

"Why didn't you tell me? And why did you wait until the last minute?" I wondered softly.

"I didn't want you to worry about anything else. You already had a lot on your mind. You needed me. I was going to go a few days ago, but I decided to wait until the day we would act, so that I would have extra energy," he explained sweetly. He pulled me close and hugged me tightly as if to show me that he had no temptations to bite me what so ever. Although he seemed composed, I felt him catch him breath. I pulled away gently.

"You'd better go. I'll see you when you get back. Get an extra mountain lion for me." I winked at him, to inform him of my light humor. He pressed his lips hard, distressed, but the corners turned up a tad.

Edward turned to face the door, which was still open. Beyond the door, I saw Emmett and Rosalie waiting for him. I hadn't seen them earlier.

Alice grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me up the stairs. I could tell she was hiding something. She led me to a room that I had never been in previously to this. Before she opened the door, she discretely looked around. When she saw that we were the only ones in the hallway, she opened the door.

I gasped at what I saw. In the middle of the room, a chair was bolted down to the floor. Cuffs that would lock were on the armrests and on the bottom. The chair looked as if it would be comfortable if it didn't have the chains on it. Everywhere I looked, there was makeup or hair products to be seen. Dresses were hung everywhere.

"ALICE! What is this for?! You better not be putting me in this. I will never talk to you again!" I began throwing ugly threats at her. Well, they were ugly coming from me. Alice interrupted me quickly by putting a hand over my mouth.

"Bella, Bella, relax. This is not for you. It is for Jasper." I felt my jaw drop. "I am taking your idea. Rosalie is going to help, if we need it, but I don't think we will with my idea."

"What are you going to do to him? And why can't he hear us?" I whispered.

"He can't hear us because this room is sound proof. Highest technology, I guess you could say. And, _we _are going to dress Jasper up like a pretty girl, take a picture, and then dress him Goth. It will be hilarious."

I didn't believe that Alice could get Jasper in this room alone, but I didn't say anything.

"So, what is your big plan to get him in here?"

"I'll guess you'll see," she said mysteriously as she flicked open her blouse so that a black lacy bra was showing. I scrunched up my eyes and groaned.

"Alice that is just plan evil."

"I know!!!!" she giggled with pleasure. She opened the door and called for Rosalie. She appeared instantly and stood by the door. I wasn't exactly sure where to stand, so I stood next to a set up of lipsticks.

**I never switch point of views, but this is too good to resist. This will probably be the only time I do this.**

**(Alice's POV)**

I danced out of the room, seductively. Why not start the act early? I giggled with pleasure at my own wicked plans. This was too good!

I knew that this was horrible, but how many times has Jasper pranked me? A lot.

I glided downstairs into the sunroom, where Jasper was reading. He looked up at me. His gaze darted to my chest instantly. His eyes became dark with hunger as he got up and stalked over to me. His hands darted out quickly to grab my waist forcefully. Pulling me to close to him, he leaned down and bit my bottom lip. I cried out, sexily, but not loud.

I whipped out a black scarf and showed it to him.

"I've got a surprise for you," I breathed in his ear. He bent down and let me tie the scarf around his eyes.

I grabbed his hand and led him slowly upstairs. When we reached the makeup room, I snatched his face into my hands and began to kiss him forcefully. I opened the door to the room slowly and finally made my way in.

**Haha. I know. But, I had fun writing it, and I hope you had fun reading it. Back to Bella.**

**(Bella's POV)**

The wait for Alice to come back with her prisoner was uncomfortable. Rosalie didn't look at me, but I felt like she was scowling at me. I nudged the floor with my toe, trying to think of something to say. Nothing came to mind.

Instead, I just waited awkwardly. When I finally heard the two vampires at the door, I tensed up. I was nervous to be taking part in this, but yet I was excited at the same time. It's not every day that you get to see a male vampire dressed up like a girl. Especially one like Jasper.

When Alice threw the door open, I saw they were full out kissing. I felt the blush run to my face. I looked down at my toes, but my eyes were drawn back. Edward and I had never kissed like that; so passionately.

Alice began backing up towards the chair. Suddenly, I watched Jasper tense up, stop kissing her, and smelling the air. Alice held his hands to his side, so he couldn't get the scarf off, as hard as she could. Rosalie jumped to shut the door and bolt it.

By this time, Jasper was yelling profanities and thrashing. Alice would have lost her grip if Rosalie hadn't come to her rescue. Together, they forced Jasper into the death trap and locked him in. They backed up, their breath still incredibly even.

"Well now," Alice said triumphantly. Rosalie stalked out of the room, hiding a smile.

"Alice, what the hell are you doing?" Jasper's voice was hushed, but powerful. It scared me. I had never heard someone speak that quietly, but have that much authority. I suddenly felt a wave of emotion come on. I suddenly wanted to let him go.

"No, no Jasper. It isn't going to work on me. I had one of the girls send me a potion. For the whole time you are with me, your power will not work on me." Alice swept her lips over his. "Sorry, baby. I'm having my fun." She then took the scarf off. His eyes were coal black, and they looked extremely dangerous.

"Curse those Alaskans," was all he said. He sounded like he meant it with all his heart. Alice just chuckled and pulled out foundation.

I watched from a distance as she got started. Jasper just stared at her with the most ominous look I had ever seen. Alice didn't even seem to notice it. I figured she was used to it, this being Jasper's normal mood.

When Alice was done rubbing the foundation on his face, she looked up at me.

"Why are you not over here?!" she cried out. "You must help me!"

"I think I'm okay. Don't you see how evil he looks right now? I think I'll pass."

Alice laughed and Jasper suddenly looked over at me. His eyes softened and he looked troubled. I immediately regretted saying that. Jasper was remembering what happened at my last birthday party.

"Don't worry, Bella. Just have some fun. He'll lighten up." She punched his arm as she said this.

I carefully walked over, trying to show Jasper that I did not fear him, and he had nothing to worry about. This was difficult, though, because he was so intimidating.

Alice passed me some blue eye shadow, and I slowly began to apply it to his eyelid. He closed his eye for me. When I was finished, he opened his eyes and batted them, still looking serious. I began to crack up. The corners of his lips twitched, but he still kept his outward appearance of anger.

After that, we went crazy on him. He had two different color eyes and shimmer all over. We shoved a blonde wig on his head. It was curly and very girlish. He looked like a muscular girl. He was so beautiful as a girl, and that made me laugh.

His mood stayed glum, but he didn't thrash around. He was too cool for that. He took his medicine like a man.

The makeup was way overdone, but he pulled it off. When I thought we were done, Alice picked out a dress. I gasped.

"No WAY!" I started cracking up. I looked at Jasper and saw the fear hidden deep in his eyes.

It was the same one I tried on the other day.

"Jasper. Can I trust you?" Her eyes sparkled.

"Yeah, yeah," he replied. For some reason, Alice believed him. I didn't.

She undid the buckles and he stood. A wicked smile formed on his lips.

"You have to dress me. I'm not moving."

I was stunned. Alice was giddy with anticipation. I started to walk out to the door, but Alice called me back.

"I am going to need your help," she pleaded sincerely. It seemed as if she knew what was going to happen.

I made my way back over. She lifted his dark blue shirt up to his arms, but he didn't raise them. His stomach and chest was exposed. I tried not to look, but once again, I was curious. His muscles were well sculpted. I looked at him amazed, but not in lust.

"Help, Bella. Lift his arms."

I laughed and went over to lift his arms over his head. He helped me a little bit, but barely. As I struggled to hold them up, Alice lifted the shirt off. She undid his spiky belt, and unbuttoned his pants. I blushed profusely.

Jasper looked at me with amusement.

"Don't be embarrassed," was all he said. Try as I might, I was still very embarrassed. What were they thinking?

I just turned around, trying to disappear. When I turned back around, Jasper had on the blue dress on. The sudden transformation made me burst out in hysterics.

I was surprised that Jasper didn't run. Instead he stood, waiting. Alice had a camera in her hand now. When she held it up to her eye, Jasper posed.

I could not believe what I was seeing. Jasper made a kissy face and folded his hands on his thigh. I could barely breathe, I was laughing so hard. The pose only lasted a minute, and then he was tearing everything off.

In a blink of an eye, Jasper's clothes were back on. Alice began to take his makeup off and everything seemed somehow normal.

"What…" I started, but I just kept quiet. I would ask at a better time. This is was so strange, though.

Then, after all Jasper's girly makeup was off, Alice began applying eyeliner. Black eyeliner. It was not too thick, but it was just right. It made his eyes smolder, and look very sexy.

Without another word, Jasper left the makeup room and headed to his own room.

"What just happened?" I questioned.

"When you said that yesterday… remember? You said 'go dress Jasper up'. Well it reminded me. A long time ago, soon after Jasper and I joined the Cullen family, I would do this to him all the time. After a while, he finally accepted that I needed to do this every once and a while. It wore out, but when you reminded me yesterday, I thought it would be fun to try again. I have a bunch of pictures."

As I stood, flabbergasted, as she drew out a small stack of pictures. I flipped through them. In all of them, Jasper was dressed up like a girl and each time, he was in a different pose. Some of them got extreme. Alice had put socks for breasts one him in one of the pictures. In the last one, Jasper was not dressed up like a girl. He was very… dark. Eyeliner and dark clothes. It made him look very dangerous.

"I like it when he looks like that," Alice said as I stared at the picture.


	14. A Strong Woman

**Disclaimer**

Me: _throws book at reality's head. _I don't own Twilight.

Reality: Yup. You suck. _Throws book back. Of course, it hits me in the face. RIGHT IN THE FACE!_

Me: I don't know why you have this obsession of making feel stupid.

Reality: You are just fun to mess with.

Me: _says under breath _Bitch.

**Chapter Thirteen**

**A Strong Woman**

After the whole Jasper makeover fiasco, Alice told me to explore a little bit around the house. She knew that I had never really seen the whole house, and I usually didn't have time because of Edward. Now that Edward was out hunting, and Alice had to clean the makeup mess, I had time.

I wasn't going to snoop around their house at first, so I just went to Edward's room and studied his musical collection. I was sure that he had almost every decent CD ever created.

It was fascinating, but I had been in Edward's room so much. I had made up my mind. I wasn't going to snoop; I was just going to be curious about the whereabouts of the Cullen family.

For some reason, I felt guilty. I wasn't sure of my crime. I peeked my head out of Edward's door. No one was in the hallway. The whole house was silent, so I felt extremely loud. As quietly as I could I eased my way into the desolate hall.

I walked, not exactly sure where I was headed. The pictures on the wall intrigued me. Every one was a scene in nature. One was a sun setting, captured at the most perfect and most beautiful time. Another was of a snowy day. They ranged from mountains to valleys.

I noticed that my feet stopped moving. I found myself in front of Carlisle's door. It was closed tight. I gently put my ear up against the door to listen. As I was doing that, I heard Carlisle's voice ring out.

"You can come in, Bella."

My cheeks turned bright red. I felt I was caught doing a dirty deed. I bit my lip as I pushed the door open.

Carlisle was undisturbed, at his desk reading. Actually, several books were open at once all around him. I stood silently in the back corner of the room and I seemed to be unnoticed. I was unsure if I really heard him say to come it.

"Are you okay?" he asked. His voice startled me. He didn't look up from his books.

"Yes… I'm okay. Alice told me to explore, but feel…" I didn't finish.

"Hmm. You should not feel anything but welcome in our home. You should know that by now."

"I do." Carlisle was quiet again for some time. I choose to break the silence.

"Do you think everything will go well tonight?" I was curious to know his opinion. Carlisle usually said what he really believed, and what he believed was always logical.

I wasn't sure he heard me at first. Then, he took a deep breath and replied.

"We have doubted Victoria's abilities before, and she has proved us wrong on more than one account. Although we have many advantages, she has had much time to plan. I would say there is only a slight chance that we actually make contact with her. We may possibly find where she is staying, but I doubt much more than that." He didn't look up as he talked, still.

Another silence broke out between us. Truly, I was scared. I hated feeling this way; especially because I knew the Cullen family was doing everything they could. I wanted to talk to someone about it, but I didn't know who the right person was. Standing here in Carlisle's study, I knew he was the one.

"Carlisle… I am scared. I don't want to put your whole family in danger and then not be strong enough in the end. I know I'm not strong enough…" My voice faded off at the end. I was ashamed to be admitting this; my eyes were on the floor. When I finally looked up, I saw Carlisle's dark eyes watching me kindly. A smile broke out across his face.

"Come here, Bella. I want to show you something."

I cautiously made my way to his side. I didn't know what to expect. Had he heard what I just said?

"I have been doing some research. You see, some vampires write books, but they get published only for others of our kind. One of these vampires studied humans from afar. He would pick a few that stuck out and observed their every move. I have the book he wrote. Five amazing people are described in one enormous volume."

I watched as he slid a book out from under another. He slowly flipped to a page in the middle of the book. I gasped when I saw the picture. It was a photograph of my great grandmother on Charlie's side. I never met her, but Charlie had showed me many pictures. She was quite a bit younger in this one, but there was no mistaking her.

"He listed this very remarkable woman. Her name was Isabella Swan. This woman astonished the vampire, but he never made contact with her. He describes her as the strongest human female he has ever observed. Of course, he does not mean burly, physical strength. Watching her, he saw that she went though much more than most humans even hear about. Even so, she stayed strong and got through it. I know you can get through this, just like she did, even if your situations are as different as night and day."

Carlisle stood and wrapped his arms around me. I returned his comforting hug, and then left him to continue reading. I wandered the hall aimlessly, deep in thought.

Suddenly, I felt my feet trip over air and I began to fall. I put my arms out in front of me to catch the fall, but I felt myself stop in midair.

"Edward!" I gasped, "You're home!" I heard him chuckle.

"I sure am." He propped me up and I spun around to face him. His eyes were back to the beautiful honey color I loved. I embraced him ferociously.

As he breathed in the scent of my hair, he mumbled, "Well, I missed you too."

Together, we walked down the stairs. As we reached the last step, my stomach growled demandingly. I blushed slightly.

"Are you hungry?" he asked kindly.

"A little," I lied. It was probably about one o'clock in the afternoon and I had only waffles this morning. Edward chuckled lightly and led me into the kitchen. Esme was already there, watering some flowers. These flowers were like the ones in Alice's room, but they matched the light yellow and green of the kitchen.

"Esme, do you think you could whip up something for Bella to eat?"

I blushed again.

"Oh, you don't have to do that. I'm sure I can find something…"

"Don't be silly. I would love to cook something for you. Do you like chicken Parmesan with spaghetti?"

I smiled. That was a dinner, but I'm sure Esme didn't know the difference. It didn't matter to me. It had been a while since I had pasta.

"Yes, it sounds delicious."

"Alright, I'll call you when it is ready."

While Esme was cooking, Edward and I strolled out back to the hammock. We cuddled, enjoying the warmish weather.

Esme's quiet voice brought us out of a comical conversation about pillows. Sometimes I wondered how we got on such topics. Laughing, I stumbled my way towards the delectable scent coming from the kitchen. Edward was laughing quietly along side of me. He could contain himself so much better than I could.

A plate was set at the head of the table. The meal looked like it was professionally made for a picture. When I sat, I was hesitant to dig my fork in. It looked too beautiful to ruin.

"Is it okay? It has been a while since I cooked a meal…" I could hear anxiety in Esme's quiet voice.

"It looks and smells wonderful. It's just so pretty." Esme giggled girlishly and insisted that I eat.

The first bite made my taste buds tingle. It tasted even more wonderful than it looked.

I ate as much as I could, but I was soon full. Esme promised she would save it for later on tonight.

"Oh, and I should probably get some cookie materials. EMMETT!" she called.

"Yeah?" He shouted back. It sounded like he was in his room.

"Run to the store and get cookie ingredients!"

Instantly, Emmett was downstairs. He didn't hesitate to barge out the door. Esme's face wrinkled.

"EMMETT!"

And he was back.

"What?!" he whined. It looked as if he took her statement to "run to the store" literally. I giggled as quietly as I could. Emmett shot me a grin.

"You know what," she glowered.

"Alright, fine. I'll drive." When he turned around, he winked at me and stormed out. I couldn't wait until I was part of this family.

**A/N: Sorry it took so long for me to get this up. School Testing SUCKS! Seriously, though… it needs to die. I had too pee in the middle of writing a piece of persuasive text. The teachers wouldn't let me go, so I had to hold it for another 45 minutes. I was about to burst.**

**Also, I was supposed to go streaking yesterday (I have this urge to do something crazy), but it snowed! WTF? Here, I'll show you the letter I wrote to snow.**

**Dear Snow,**

**You are a bitch.**

**Love Taylor.**


	15. Rosalie

_**Disclaimer:**_

_recieves letter from snow._

Me: What? I didn't even really send that letter out! I got a responce though... hmmm.

_Letter Reads:_

Dear Taylor,

I do not like you either.

That is why I snowed on your day.

Love Snow.

PS. You don't own Twilight.

PSS. Seriously.

Me: Whoa.

**Chapter Fourteen**

**Rosalie**

Emmett returned from the store just as Alice and Jasper were stalking back into the house from their hunt. Alice looked refreshed, but Jasper looked irritated. From what I understood, Jasper didn't entirely love the idea of substituting animals for humans as his food substance.

I transferred my gaze to Emmett. He was carrying five bags from the grocery store. Curious, I peeked inside one of them. All cookie ingredients. I looked in the next one. Cookie materials. The rest of the bags were loaded with items to create different kinds of cookies.

"Emmett! How many cookies do you think I can eat?"

"Well, if I were you, I would be able to eat a lot. So, I just guesstimated from there." He chuckled. We both knew he got way too much stuff.

Esme rushed into the kitchen where the bulk of the family was.

"Oh, I see you got the cookie things. My, Emmett, did you need to get so much?" Emmett and I exchanged glances, our eyes filling with laughter. Esme seemed flustered. "Okay, I will begin making them when we return. From hunting that is." Her words were all hurried.

I glanced at her eyes. They were pitch black. She must be extremely thirsty. She was probably flustered because she just wanted to go.

Carlisle soon joined us in the kitchen.

"Alright, sweetheart, let's go. I won't keep you waiting any longer." And with that, they were gone.

All the vampires began talking about different topics. I surveyed them all. Before, I hadn't noticed Jasper's outfit. It looked so natural on him. He was dressed completely Goth. Even as he was smiling, you could see his dark side.

Emmett made a comment about Jasper's clothing, joking around. Jasper laughed along with everyone, but then slyly countered with a comment about Emmett's strength. Emmett of course took that as a challenge, and the two vampires soon left the room to have some kind of competition.

Edward rolled his eyes and went off to supervise. He was also going to try to convince them to save their strength for tonight.

This left me alone with Alice. She looked at me and shook her head, chuckling.

"Boys. No matter how long they live and how much knowledge they gain, they are still the same."

I couldn't agree more.

* * *

By the time Carlisle and Esme returned, it was five o'clock. It would start getting dark in about two hours. Everyone, excluding myself, Alice, and Rosalie decided to plan a little more and get ready.

I was lying in the living room, on one of the five couches, reading a book I picked out from Carlisle's collection. He insisted I take a look to see if I saw anything interesting. All the books he had looked interesting! I choose a thick fiction novel about a girl who got lost in her own mind.

It wasn't as if the girl actually got lost inside her own mind. She was hearing voices and she was receiving mixed messages. At first she thought she was going crazy, but the voices seemed too real to be coming from her own imagination. How the author described what happened to her was different than how any normal writer would have portrayed it.

Lost in my readings, I didn't notice someone enter the room. I only realized someone was with me when my leg fell asleep. I marked my place, shut the book, and shifted my weight, ready to stretch. When I saw Rosalie, I was startled. I could have sworn she was watching me, but by the time she came into my focus, she was reading a magazine.

Instead of continuing my reading, I put the book down and put my hands in my lap. I wanted to confront her like Edward had told me to, but I wasn't sure how to start. Should I just clear my throat? Or should I begin talking to her? What should I say?

I gained up as much courage as I could and took a deep breath in.

"Umm, Rosalie?"

She looked up from her magazine confused, like I said something in another language. She didn't say anything, but I knew she was listening.

"Uh, hi," I mumbled. What in the world was I supposed to say?

"Hello, Isabella. Did you need something?" She was mocking me a little bit.

"Yeah, um, I just wanted to talk to you."

"Well then... talk." Her words were not exactly harsh.

"I feel like... a lot of the time... that... well, you don't like me." She didn't deny it. Her ears still appeared open though, so I continued.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is that I think I'm going to be around here for a while, and you are part of Edward's family. I would at least like to know what your grudge is against me and maybe we could fix it?" Ugh. I felt like a complete idiot. I sounded like one of those school councilors trying to work out a fight between two gossipy girls. How else was there to explain what I was talking about though?

Rosalie's face hardened, and for a moment I was sure she was going to get up and walk away. But she replied.

"Isabella, are you not intimidated by me? My strength, and my beauty?" She stalked over to where I was sitting. I looked up at her, towering over me. I wasn't quite sure what she was doing, but I felt my throat tighten.

"Well... I- I... Of course I am. I know what you could do to me. And your beauty is far beyond my own," I stuttered. Why was I doing this?

Rosalie nodded slightly, apparently pleased with my answer. She backed up slightly and put her hand on her hip.

"Tell me then: how, if my beauty is "far beyond your own", does a vampire happen to fall in love with you? A plain human like yourself?"

Oh my God. Was that what this was about? She was in love with Edward?

"Rosalie... I didn't know you had feelings for Edward... I..."

She looked at me with disgust.

"No! What an absurd assumption."

I was lost.

"Rosalie... I don't understand," I admitted. She didn't respond. "Edward informed me about you offering to stay with me... to protect me..."

Her face changed from being annoyed to being embarrassed. But only slightly.

After a slight pause, she said, "Isabella, do you know the story about how Emmett came into the Cullen family?"

I was thrown off by her sudden change of topic. My response was hesitant.

"Yes..."

"I knew I loved him when I saw him. I begged Carlisle to change him. I wanted him changed because I loved him. I was sure that no one could love another as strongly as I did him. When Edward met you, he swore he wasn't going to change you. I just assumed that he didn't really love you. After he found that you were gone, though," she flinched at the memory of what she had done, "he didn't want to live any longer. It was obvious, then, that he loved you."

Suddenly, I understood. Rosalie was jealous of mine and Edward's love.

"That is why I offered to stay with you. He doesn't want you gone. I did it for him."

That did explain a little bit. But what about all the time that she was assuming he didn't love me?

Seeing the confusion in my eyes, she continued. Somehow, I had gotten her talking.

"Well, why would I show dislike for you? Ha. I thought you would know that." When she saw the blank look on my face, she kept talking. "Come on. My family accepted you right in! A human, right into a family of vampires. What right did you have to interrupt our life? All the attention was put on you and-"

"And no one was paying attention to you," I finished. I guess hearing it from someone else was different than talking about it yourself, because she suddenly looked ashamed.

"Well-," But she was cut off. Emmett was calling her. She took one last look at me and turned to answer her husband's call.

In that one last look at me, I saw that a lot of the tension that had been held between us was now gone.

I heard Edward come up from behind me. He made himself louder than usual so he wouldn't scare me. Wrapping him arms around my waist, he kissed my neck.

"What was that about?" he asked, although I knew he already knew.

"I think, somehow, I just settled something with Rosalie."

"You know," he started, kissing a trail up to my ear, "I think you did."

**A/N: You like? I am especially curious to see how you fellow readers think I did with the Rosalie and Bella thing. Is that kind of close to how the real Rosalie might act? It was a little hard but... I think I did alright.**

**Okay story of the day:**

**My drain was so clogged with only God knows what, that when I took a shower, the water wouldn't go down. (I am only at this house 3 days out of the week and my other sibilings use it, so don't think I'm all grimy and stuff. LOL) So, I needed to unclog it a little bit to at least be able to take a shower. Yeah, no gloves in the bathroom. OMC I almost threw up. Hair and other things (I don't even want to think about what those things were) came up in what seemed like tons. Ugh. I only did a little bit, but I swear it was a handful. Ew EW EWWWW.**


	16. Broken Promise

**A/N: I want to clear something up. Rosalie and Bella are not magically friends now. What happened was that they moved past that first huge hill that was blocking all possibility of them being friends. All that's going on now is they do not have all that crappy tension between each other and it is possible to be friends now.**

**I'm not Mrs. Meyer, so my portrayal of Rosalie wasn't awesome, and I believe in her actual book, it will be dragged out a lot longer. For my story, however, it was easier for me to just start it like that.**

**Also, in my mind, Jasper is still very cautious towards Bella. I can't explain my real viewing of him, but I think you get a little bit in this chapter.**

**Again, sorry that it took me so long to update. I know, I'm horrible.**

_**Disclaimer:**_

_**I am on a date with an amazingly hott guy in a restaurant.**_

**Hot Guy: So then, I stayed after school everyday to help the kid get past his fear of the ball.**

**Me: _distracted. _Oh…**

**Hot Guy: I must say, your eyes look stunning tonight.**

**Me: Yeah… Do you know that I don't own Twilight?**

**Hot Guy: Uhh… What?**

**Me: You know… the book? I have been trying to convince reality that I know that I don't own it but he doesn't believe me.**

**Hot Guy: Uhh… I'm gonna go.**

**Me: Wait… _it was too late… he's gone._**

**Reality: Haha, Your fault.**

**Chapter Fifteen**

**Broken Promise**

I looked out the window. There was only about ten more minutes of daylight, and then it would be dark. I concentrated on controlling my breathing; I don't remember ever being this nervous. There were so many possible outcomes of tonight's affair, and only a hand full of them were even semi good.

Thinking I was alone in the room, I began to reassure myself.

"Alright Bella. What are you so worried about? If they find her, it's five against one. Everything will be fine."

"Everything _will_ be fine." The cool words startled me. I spun around to see Jasper leaning against the wall farthest from me.

"Jasper! You frightened me!" I panted. So much for controlling my breathing.

I watched as a sly smile crept onto his face.

"I can't believe you didn't hear me come in. I made myself loud. Maybe it was just loud for me. I'm not used to the whole human thing," he chuckled.

A wave of calm washed over me as I stumbled to find a couch.

Over the silence, Jasper's face became serious again.

"All of us can not wait to get a hold of Victoria. For even thinking about hurting you, she should die. Us Cullens, we love you like you are part of the family." As he said this, I blushed. I tried to be discrete about it. He continued never the less.

I know you are having your doubts. I'm not sure whether they be that you don't believe we can do it or you believe you are a nuisance to us, but I know you are having doubts. I can feel how you are feeling, but I'm not the mind reader. I want to reassure you, though. Don't be scared."

Before I could ask what he meant, new emotions came flooding into me.

I felt an extremely powerful love radiating through me. I felt like a totally other person. Becoming aware of what was happening, I figured this was the love of the Cullen family towards me. I couldn't believe how strong it was.

Suddenly, I felt my mood shift. I became determined. Nothing anyone did could stop me from achieving my goal. Not even death. When I was sure I could do anything, my mood changed again.

I was insanely angry. I felt like I would kill someone. This emotion was very strange to me. With this anger came power. Everything about this emotion scared me. Almost as if he knew, Jasper made this emotion experience last for a shorter time than the others.

For a spilt second, I felt the love and compassion again, and then I traveled back to my normal self.

By the time I became aware of my surroundings, Jasper was gone. I sat, pondering what had just happened. If that was how the Cullens were feeling about this, nothing would be able to stop them. I was overwhelmed with the sudden understanding of their love for me. I stared at a picture on the cream colored wall and let a few tears escape.

"Everybody ready?" Carlisle asked in a confident tone. No one replied. They were concentrating on the goal set before them.

Wordlessly, Esme passed out cell phones for everyone, incase anyone got separated or they had to contact each other. Alice, Rosalie, and I also got one each.

I glanced at Edward and studied his face. Every feature seemed to glow with anger and determination. When he noticed me looking at him, his face softened. After a moment, he crushed me in a suffocating hug.

"Don't worry about anything." he whispered lovingly in my ear. I closed my eyes and pulled him tighter. "Be safe, Bella. Please." It sounded like he was genuinely pleading with me. I took his face in my hands and kissed him softly on the lips.

"I promise," I responded, barely speaking. As soon as I released my grip, the five vampires were gone, and I was left alone with Alice and Rosalie.

We stood, staring through the closed door after them, lost in our thoughts.

Alice snapped out of the trance first. She led me away from the front door, towards the living room. I sat down on a white couch, expecting Alice to join me. Instead, she walked toward a closet and thrust the door open. I laughed.

In that closet, the Cullens had every board game possible. They had the classics, such as Sorry, Connect Four, and Candyland. Then I saw Fib Finder.

"Do you guys actually play Fib Finder?" I asked, hiding a laugh.

"Yeah, but it gets a little unfair. When we force Edward to play, he knows if we are fibbing or not; he always has the advantage. Okay, what game do you want to play?"

I continued looking through the games from my seat on the couch. I spotted Monopoly, my favorite childhood game.

"Oo oo! Let's play Monopoly. I always liked that game."

Alice laughed to herself and pulled the box out onto the coffee table. As we were setting up, Alice froze in her place. I froze in response, waiting for her to tell me to run somewhere.

Her eyes got a faraway look in them, and I knew she was having a premonition.

My body was tense as I waited for her vision to be over. I wasn't sure what I should be doing. Even if I did know, I probably wouldn't have been able to do it; I was frozen in place.

Finally, she blinked a few times and sighed. She looked frustrated and confused.

I waited for her to speak, afraid of what she would say.

"Well, that wasn't very helpful. All I saw was flashes of light, curtains flaring, and quick movements. There was a voice in the background, but I couldn't hear what it was saying." She said this almost enthusiastically. I thought, though, I could hear the falseness in her voice.

I began to question her, but she waved it off.

"Let's just keep playing, alright?"

I agreed weakly. Our game was quiet and dull, although none of us made any attempt to liven it up. I could tell Alice was worried about something; she seemed very distracted. I also had a lot on my mind.

After a half hour of playing, we decided we were bored. I helped her put the game away and reorganize the pillows that had been thrown on the floor.

"Will you be able to find something to entertain yourself with if I leave you for a while?" Alice asked me after the room was clean.

"You aren't going to… leave the house are you?" I asked tentatively.

"No no! Of course I won't! I'm just going to talk to Rosalie."

I sighed in relief and replied, "Sure. I was reading a book earlier. Maybe I'll find it and continue."

Alice smiled and began walking with me to the doorway. Before she was completely out of the room, she turned and gave me a swift hug. Then she danced out of the room and out of my sight.

I slowly made my way into the living room to see if the book I had been reading was still there. When I walked into the room, I was instantly chilled. It was colder than most parts of the house for some reason. I noticed the window was open a crack and wind was blowing through the screen. I walked toward the window and slammed it shut. That should warm the room up a little.

I was originally going to read here, but it was too brisk. Grabbing my book, I began towards the stairs. As I was about to step onto the first stair, I heard what sounded like whispering coming from a room right off of the living room.

At first I thought it was coming from the kitchen, but when I turned around I noticed the sounds were sneaking in through the other way.

Quietly, I tiptoed to the edge of the room near the entryway and held my breath to see if I could hear anything.

"It's okay, Bella. It's just us talking," I heard Alice's voice boom out.

I let out my air and continued walking. I stopped at the beginning of the room and glanced in. Alice was sitting on the edge of a couch and Rosalie was standing near a window looking out.

"Why were you guys whispering?" I asked from where I was standing.

"Whispering?" Rosalie asked. Although her face was hard, she was not scowling at me.

"Well, that was what it sounded like."

"Oh! No, we were just talking quickly. To us it sounds like regular talking except faster. I guess human ears can't hear it," Alice squeaked. I had heard Edward do that many times, I wasn't sure why I had forgotten.

An awkward silence fell between us, and I realized that they were just talking about me. When no one explained anything to me, I declared I was going to read in Edward's room. They just nodded and I was on my way.

I knew there was something more to Alice's vision, but I couldn't figure out what it was. Silently, I fell onto the usually unused couch in Edward's room. The only light was coming from a small lamp on an end table next to the couch.

After a few pages of reading, I found myself thinking of other things besides my book. My mind was randomly wandering. I'm not sure how long it was, but I was suddenly jerked out of my thoughts when the lamp flickered off.

I felt myself become ridged and I reached out to flip the switch. It wouldn't go back on. I just figured the plug fell out or power was out. Something in the back of my mind said this was wrong, but I refused to listen.

As I swung my legs off the side of the couch, I thought I saw something move. It was only the curtains. I let my heart calm down and followed the cord to the wall. It was plugged in.

I stood up straight and went to sit back on the couch. Something was telling me to get out of the room, but I was somehow compelled to stay. Everything that happened next seemed to happen at the same time.

I turned to face the window, and just as I did I heard something shatter downstairs.

"BELLA!" I heard Alice scream from downstairs.

My vision blurred as I whirled around trying to figure everything out.

When I came back to the window, I tried to scream. Nothing came out.

Victoria was standing behind a cream colored curtain. Her lips curled back in a nasty grin a split second before she pounced.

**A/N: I had it up yesterday, but it was being weird. **


	17. Crimson Eyes

**A/N: Do not fear, this is not the last chapter. Sorry it took kind of long. I know you guys hate cliffhangers.**

**Even though this chapter is semi-short, I think it is pretty good. Tell me what you think.**

_**Disclaimer:**_

**Me: **_**alone in a room**_** Reality is breaking me down. All I can think about is convincing him that I know I don't own Twilight. I will have to devise a plan to take him down. I need to get my life back!!!!!!**

**Mom: **_**watching from doorway **_**What am I going to do? She's gone mad. **_**Shakes head sadly because she is doomed.**_

**Chapter Sixteen **

**Crimson Eyes**

_Everything that happened next seemed to happen simultaneously._

_I turned to face the window, and just as I did I heard something shatter downstairs._

"_BELLA!" I heard Alice scream from faraway._

_My vision blurred as I whirled around trying to figure everything out._

_When I came back to the window, I tried to scream. Nothing came out._

_Victoria was standing behind a cream colored curtain. Her lips curled back in a nasty grin a split second before she pounced._

I threw my hands in front of my face, knowing that I was going to die. I waited… expecting. A thousand thoughts ran through my mind, but not one of them was about what was happening right now.

Memories of times Edward and I spent together flashed through my head. I couldn't believe everything was ending so soon. Standing here, helpless, I felt as if I was letting the love of my life down. I failed him. For everything he had been though for me, I couldn't even repay him by staying alive.

Suddenly, I was pushed back and onto the floor protectively. Something or someone was thrown across the room, hit the wall, and slumped to the floor.

I peeked over the barrier my hands had created and saw two figures with their backs to me. I could tell Alice and Rosalie were staring angrily at Victoria as she swiftly stood, unhurt by the blow of the wall.

"Why would you even bother? There are two of us and one of you. Do you really think you would get away with this?" Alice snarled at the chuckling Victoria.

"Just because you see one, does not mean there are not more." She said this in a mocking tone of voice.

I gasped involuntarily, and felt Victoria's cold eyes shift to hold my face in an evil glare. I scrambled to get farther away form her, cowering my body as close to the floor as I could.

Alice and Rosalie moved back protectively and slid closer together in one swift movement.

My protectors both let out a low growl, daring Victoria to make a move.

The monster roared in annoyance. She jumped at Alice pulling her aside. Without a second of hesitation, Alice was on Victoria's back, clawing at her face. Victoria reached around and grabbed Alice by her throat, throwing her into Edward's precious music collection.

Rosalie stepped out and threw a punch, hitting the vampire in the face, while she was admiring the work she had done to Alice. Stumbling back, Victoria let out a howl.

In a flash, Victoria knocked Rosalie down. The two vampires rolled on the ground, struggling to get into a better position to strangle the other. Soon, Victoria was straddling Rosalie with a death grip around her neck. Rosalie began to thrash, trying to throw the murderous vampire off her.

"I'm going to break your pretty little neck!" Victoria screamed.

Before Victoria could make even the slightest move, Alice threw all her weight against her, knocking her across the room.

As Rosalie as beginning to arise, I noticed silvery liquid oozing from two scratches on her neck.

At this time, I was screaming and crying, feeling extremely helpless.

Just as Victoria was getting up again, we heard the door slam open and within two seconds, the whole Cullen family was in the room with us.

By the time Alice, Rosalie, and I had time to figure out who had barged in, Victoria had disappeared.

Emmett and Jasper ran to their wives examining them. When Emmett noticed the silvery liquid, he roared and held her protectively in his arms.

Edward had picked me up, carefully checking me for any signs of pain. I had a slight bruise on my head from being pushed to the ground, but that was all, physically. He held me tightly, unable to speak. I felt the anger radiating from him.

"Come, we must get Bella somewhere safe. This is not the end," Carsile insisted.

I felt the soft rock of Edward's body, which was the only sign I had that we were moving. My head was buried in Edward's chest, breathing in his soothing scent. I tried to disappear in him.

"Aw, you really think I was going to make it that easy on you? I'm disappointed that you don't think me more wicked." A cool voice purred from the darkness of the room. The Cullen family stopped abruptly and Edward gently lowered me to the ground. He held onto me until I gained my balance, and then moved close to me.

"Run up the stairs, Bella, and barricade yourself in a room. GO!" Edward whispered very quietly in my ear.

I wanted to listen to him, but I couldn't see anything. The room was in complete darkness, as if someone had draped a blanket over the house, not letting any light protrude through its seams. I knew I needed to make an effort to get away. I began to walk in the direction I thought was the stairs, but before I could take three steps, Victoria's voice ring out again.

"Don't move. You will run into someone rather unpleasant if you go."

I froze, unsure of what to do and too afraid to figure it out.

"I think you're bluffing. You have no other with you," Emmett spat.

The swoosh of a match being lit sounded and a dim light appeared around Victoria on the other side of the room. Her bloody eyes burned into every Cullen's face, hating everything about them.

Seven other crimson eyes were stationed around her in a V coming towards us. The eyes were the only things I could see in the darkness before the match burned down.

"I _will_ have you, human."

The sound of all seven demons and Victoria pouncing began the battle. Snarls and rips echoed through the house.

I knew I had to get away. Stumbling through the darkness, I found the stairs. I tried to push myself to move, but my body collapsed under me.

"I've got you now," Victoria's voice whispered as she whisked me up the steps and into the closest room.

She placed me in the corner of the room and slammed the door. As I pushed myself close to the wall, she spun to face me.

"I've been waiting for this for-" She was cut off by the sound of the door being ripped off its hinges. Edward stood behind the doorframe, furious and glowing in the moonlight.

"Nothing can stop me from protecting her. Give up now or die." Edward's words were so forceful, Victoria took a step back, but soon regained her courage.

"You forgot option number three: fight." She lunged at Edward full force. He easily deflected her blow and she stumbled back a few paces. Edward stepped forward and pushed her into a wall. As she pulled way from it, I saw a huge indent where her body struck.

She lunged again and succeeded in attaching to him. They struggled; scratching, pulling, and hitting. I covered my face, wanting all the fighting to cease.

They struggled endlessly until, finally, Victoria had Edward pinned against the wall with the same hold on his neck as she had on Rosalie.

Victoria laughed menicely, but it almost sounded like a relief. His face was hard as his hands grabbed her waist to push her away, but Victoria began to twist her hands, getting ready to break his neck. He was getting weak.

Victoria pushed her body close to him, hard. She slowly rubbed her hips against him.

"Maybe I'll play with you before I kill you," she whispered seductively in his ear. She rose up to her full height and licked the side of Edward's face. She began to lick his other cheek, but instead sunk her teeth into his marble skin. His face contorted but he did not yell out.

I couldn't take watching this. I had to do something. Before I could think about what I was doing, I threw myself at Victoria, beating on her back.

She released one hand and slapped me off. I landed forcefully on the ground, barely conscious.

My second of disturbance allowed Edward the advantage. He slammed her to the ground. The last thing I saw was Edward sinking his teeth into her throat and beginning to gruesomely rip her to shreds.


	18. The Perfect Ending

**A/N: I have absolutely no excuse for making you wait this long. I am truly sorry. I guess I just couldn't bring myself to write the final chapter. I wanted to end it perfectly. It's probably not perfect, but it made me happy.**

**When I was finally ready to write it, I went to California. Then I got punished. sigh It was not my month.**

**Disclaimer:**

Me: I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!

Reality: AHAHAHHAHA No you are not! Cause you know why? CAUSE YOU DON'T OWN TWILIGHT!

Me: _slices of reality's head off with a butter knife _**(yeah a butter knife)**Dude you're dead.

**Chapter Seventeen**

**The Perfect End**

Six figures materialized through the doors looking down at me. I knew they were talking, but I couldn't understand what they were saying. It was as if they were mumbling.

Why was I on the floor? I felt as if my head weighed a thousand pounds. Desperately, I tried to pick myself up. When that failed, I tried talking. Nothing came out. It seemed like no one saw my struggle to communicate, so I stopped trying.

I tried to study the blurry figures. From my position on the floor, it looked like the vampires had been painted with shiny slivery liquid. I wanted to ask what was wrong. Why did they all look hurt?

Then, I saw a seventh vampire emerge from the floor to my right. I studied his face, confused. It was Edward. Sliver dripped from the side of his mouth. His hands were also covered in it.

Suddenly, everything came rushing back to me. Visions of Edward viciously ripping a vampire apart swarmed my mind. I tried to scream. He began to come towards me, and I wanted to thrash around; to get away from him.

A look of confusion rose to his face as if he felt my fear. His hands raced to his face as he felt the liquid creeping off of his face. His face fell in horror and the room was in sudden movement.

Alice came towards me and picked me up. I tried thrashing, but soon, my energy was depleted from the effort. Everything went black.

I blinked my eyes, trying to wipe away the sleep that wanted to overcome me again. Looking around blurrily, I realized that I was sleeping in Alice and Jasper's room.

Sunlight shone through the window brighter than normal. I pushed myself into a sitting position, focusing my thoughts.

Last night had been brutal. All I could think about was how grateful I was that Victoria was gone.

I began to wonder why I was in this room and not in Edward's room. Then I remembered. I had been terrified of him last night. I was not really scared of him; it was just in the moment. I was more confused than anything.

All I could see was Edward's horrified face. It had finally happened. He believed he had done the worst. He believed he had frightened me away. He always knew it would happen.

But he was wrong! I still loved him more than humanly possible. Nothing would be enough to make me flee from him. I had been confused after witnessing something terrifying. I was actually thankful that he ripped her to shreds.

I took a deep breath and threw my legs over the side of the bed. Moving slowly, I shoved a pair of sweatpants on that were lying on a chair next to Alice's bed. I figured they were meant for me, considering they were my size and still had the tag on them.

I rubbed my eyes and tossed my hair into a sloppy bun. Then, I sat down on the edge of the bed, preparing myself. When I finally felt awake and confident, I took a deep breath, stood up, and made my way to the door. I was ready to confront my destiny and make everything right.

When I reached the bottom of the stairs, movement of all kind ceased. The air seemed to be holding its breath. Within seconds, I saw each Cullen family member arrive through different entrances. Soon, I realized I was mistaken. Every Cullen was there. Everyone except Edward.

I studied each of them. It was obvious that they had been hurt, but most of their cuts and gashes were gone. On Rosalie, a faint shadow of what looked like a bruise was visible on her neck. It was in the shape of finger marks. Clearly, each one had fought bravely and paid a price.

I gazed lovingly at them, wanting to show my gratitude. My heart started to race as my eyes filled with tears from seeing what they'd sacrificed to keep me safe. To keep me alive.

It seemed like everyone felt my emotion, and not just Jasper. Their eyes were filled with compassion and to some level precaution. I was sure they were wondering if I wanted to leave. If I was scared.

Slowly, I glided towards the Cullen closest to me. That was Carlisle. I stood in front of him looking into his eyes, before throwing my arms around him in a monstrous hug. After a moment of surprise, he hugged me back.

Moving down the line, I hugged every Cullen. Even Rosalie. She became stiff, but patted my back. Then came Jasper. He was the last vampire. For a moment, I stood tentatively in front of him, making sure he was comfortable. Then, without warning, I threw my arms around him also. I was not scared of any of them, and I was determined to prove it.

I then stood, alone, in the center of the room, searching for the right words. Jasper spoke before I could.

"Bella, you do not need to say anything. We know. And we love you too."

The family all moved in on me, but I wasn't frightened. They all embraced me in a group hug. I had never felt more at home in my life.

But, everything wasn't perfect. Not yet.

Edward was still not around, and that crushed me terribly. I looked to Alice, and understanding my feelings, lead me into the kitchen to talk to me.

We sat at the unused table. Alice studied my face. Before she could explain anything, I spoke.

"Why did he leave? Surely he knows I love him? Nothing could ever change that. I- I was confused and frightened after just witnessing a huge vampire fight. I just want him back. Where is he?" All my words came out in a rush. I wasn't sure how to explain what had happened or how to explain how much I needed Edward.

Her eyes showed understanding and compassion as Alice took my hand.

"He thought it finally happened. He thought you had seen the thing that would make you run away from him screaming. Seeing you flinch from him broke his heart. At the moment, he is out hunting and said he would be for a while. I think he's blowing off some steam, and he didn't want you to be frightened when you awoke.

"We tried to reason with him. We knew how you felt. I tried to explain to him that I had a vision soon after of you waking up and being fine. He refused to listen."

"I will stay here until he gets back. Nothing will ever separate us. I'll prove to him that I love him. I'm not afraid."

Alice stood and pulled me up by the hand. Standing on her tiptoes, she ruffled my hair.

"You are amazing and brave. There's no way I'm letting my brother leave you. Ever."

My eyes widened, wondering if she had seen a vision about him leaving me. She noticed my fear and quickly added, "Not that he's going to. I'm just saying."

We both laughed.

I walked out to the back yard, alone. I sat impatiently on the hammock. Any minute, I expected Edward to come running through the trees. But he didn't. Time flew as my mind wandered.

Soon, I heard the glass door slide open. My eyes darted to the house, hoping it was Edward. It wasn't. My heart dropped a little bit.

Jasper slowly made his way out of the house. At first, he rested against the house, watching me. I knew it was difficult for him to be around me, but I admired the way he fought against his natural instincts.

After hesitating for a moment, he made his way to the hammock. I sat up and moved over, making room for him. He eyed the spot, but stayed where he was.

"What's up?" I asked him, curiously. For some reason, he seemed to find this question amusing. His eyes twinkled.

"Just checking on you, I suppose."

I muttered an "oh" and looked at the grass. I was sure he was here for a reason, but I couldn't figure out what.

"You aren't scared." He said this as a statement more than a question.

"Of course not!" I said this like I was offended that he even thought it.

I saw his lips turn up in the corners and his eyes sparkle. He was enjoying this.

"I was just stating. I can feel it. I can also feel Edward's emotions from here. He's broken and crushed. He's never felt more miserable."

I wasn't sure how to respond. It made me feel horrible. I needed to see him. But I had no idea where he was. I put my face into my hands and shook my head.

Jasper felt my sadness. He moved towards me, paused at the edge of the hammock, and then sat. He put his arm over my shoulders.

"You need to make him see the truth. He's in your meadow. I'll keep an ear out for you and if I sense any trouble I'll be there in a flash."

Stunned, I looked up. I squeezed his waist and stood up. I began towards the front of the house.

"You're not going to walk there without your shoes, are you?" He laughed.

I looked back, my face flushed. Jasper was holding up my sneakers with a look of hysterics on his face. He seemed to think that this whole situation was funny.

"Why don't you take Edward's car? I'm sure he won't mind." As he said this, he threw me the keys to the pretty, shiny, sliver Volvo. Surprisingly, I caught them. Hesitantly, I looked down at them.

I needed to find him. That made up my mind. I turned and ran to the Volvo.

"It's just like my truck," I told myself. Believing those words, I was shocked when I didn't hear a deafening roar when I started it up.

Some how, I managed to reach the trail without wrecking his car.

Blindly, I ran though the woods. I knew exactly where I had to go. Usually, it took an extreme amount of time to reach my meadow, but I hardly realized I was running. In no time, I saw the meadow. I slowed my pace to a slow walk. Praying that Edward was still there, I stepped into the sunlight.

My eye caught him instantly. Not concealed at all, his skin was glittering and he was more beautiful than anything I had ever seen. On the other side of the meadow, he was sitting, with his head in his hands. His whole body was shaking, despite the warm weather.

Whether he noticed me with him or not, I couldn't tell. He refused to look up. I walked slowly towards him, biting my lip. I knew this was a time where I needed to say the right words.

I put my hand on his arm, and in an inhuman movement, he looked up, startled. When he saw me, he pushed himself back, away from me.

"Edward…" My voice began to trail off. I took a deep breath and made my voice powerful. "I love you. Nothing could ever change that. How could you possibly think differently?"

His face brightened, but he looked weak. He looked at me, concerned.

"I- I thought it had finally happened… I thought-" He couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence. He pounded his fist on the grass, and I was sure I felt the ground shake.

I bent down next to him, rubbing my hand lovingly on his arm.

"If I was frightened of you, do you think I would be here now?"

I lifted his head and stared intensely into his topaz eyes. I wanted him to see my love for him.

With the back of my hand, I stroked his face from his temple to his jaw, as he had done to me so many times before. He closed his eyes, enjoying my warmth.

"I love you, Edward. Will you still have me?"

His eyes searched mine, looking for any sign of fear. He was listening to my pace of my heart. For once, it was calm.

"Of course I will still have you, Bella. What an absurd question."

I could not control my happiness. I flung myself forward, hugging him. Not even slightly shocked, he threw his arms around me.

We didn't let go of each other. And as I sat there, with Edward in my arms, I felt that nothing had ever been more perfect.

The End 

**A/N: I left it open for a sequel… I'm not sure if I should. What do you think? Either way I'll end up writing another story, whether it be this sequel or a brand new story. Thanks for all of you who have read my story steadily. And to all who have reviewed, thank you! My readers are what made this story possible! **


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